


Cornerstone

by DragonSorceress22



Category: Ghost Hunt, Yu-Gi-Oh!
Genre: Breaking and Entering, Exorcisms, Gen, Kaiba brothers fluff, Kidnapping, M/M, Mokuba is smarter than a lot of people give him credit for, Puzzleshipping, Shadow magic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-05
Updated: 2014-08-30
Packaged: 2018-02-07 12:23:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 23
Words: 31,366
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1898886
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DragonSorceress22/pseuds/DragonSorceress22
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Naru accepts a case from a client in Domino City and the SPR team heads out to solve it, but the spirits they find there are unlike any they’ve encountered before. The team draws the attention of a particular long-dead thief in a bad way and there will be exorcisms, shadow magic, kidnappings, and a whole lot of breaking and entering before it’s all over.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I’ve decided to set the technology level for this story at the Yu-Gi-Oh! level, which means it’s more advanced than what is seen in Ghost Hunt, but less advanced than present day real life. So basically, there are laptops and cell phones, but not smart phones. And everybody is gonna have a cell phone. Because I said so.
> 
> Features copious amounts of Kaiba brothers fluff, and extremely light Yuugi/Atem shipping.
> 
> Beta'd by [solomonara](http://archiveofourown.org/users/solomonara/pseuds/solomonara/works).

_This story takes place after the Cursed House case in Ghost Hunt; however, since I had only the anime in mind when I began, the events that happened on their way home from that case have not yet happened. In this continuity, I would intend for readers to assume those events would take place sometime after this case instead._

_For the Yu-Gi-Oh! timeline, this story takes place immediately after the end of Battle City, however; rather than flying straight to America after the final duel, Kaiba returns with the others to Domino to ensure that his loss in the tournament will be handled correctly, with plans to leave for America shortly thereafter._

 

September

Thursday

 

Mai set the last of the cups on the coffee table and hugged the serving tray to her body with a sigh. One cup was steaming gently in front of an empty seat while everyone else picked theirs up and sipped from them appreciatively.

“I don’t see why we have to wait for him,” Ayako said as she set her cup down again and crossed her legs, leaning back against the couch. “Can’t we just fill him in once he gets here?”

“I don’t want to go over this more than once,” Naru said, as unruffled as ever. He took another sip of his tea and Mai resigned herself to waiting, taking the empty chair next to John’s and wondering if Takigawa’s tea would go cold before he showed up. Then the door was thrown open and Takigawa hurried into the office, his guitar case and a duffle bag barely hanging off of one shoulder.

“Hey,” he said, a little breathless. “Sorry I’m late; some fans stopped me after the show and–”

“Let’s get right to business,” Naru said, more ignoring him than interrupting.

 _As usual; right to the point,_ Takigawa and Mai both thought, identical looks of exasperation on their faces. Takigawa took the empty seat and smiled at the sight of the cup already placed there, picking it up and taking a drink as Naru continued.

“It’s a big case and the details are vague, so I’ve called you all in to cover our bases,” he explained.

“Vague?” Ayako said. “What does that mean?”

“Yeah, Naru, it’s not like you to take a case without knowing what it’s about,” Takigawa put in.

“It’s a haunted city,” Naru said.

Mai looked over at him. “What?”

“A whole city?” John asked in disbelief.

“That’s ridiculous. How can a whole city be haunted?” Ayako said, leaning forward again to look past Masako at Naru.

“Our client isn’t the only one who’s noticed it. It seems that many people in the city have experienced some of the phenomena. There are several mentions of it in various forums and posts online, but it seems like, as of yet, most people view them as isolated incidents. If anyone realized just how many of them were happening all over the city, it could cause a panic.”

“Hold on a second. This is starting to sound pretty serious. Are you sure we can handle something like this? It almost sounds like something the authorities should be taking care of,” Ayako said, her contrary attitude giving way to legitimate concern.

“The local authorities might be better equipped to handle the resulting riot, but not its cause. _We_ are the professionals when it comes to ghost hunting, but if you think it’s too much for you, you’re welcome to leave.”

“Geez, Naru,” Mai said. “You can’t blame her for being unsure while you’re talking about people rioting in a city full of spirits! Do we even know what we’re walking into?” she demanded.

“If you look at all of the reports of strange activity together, they start to form a pattern,” Naru said, his unshaken calm only aggravating Mai further. “It seems to have something to do with a particular game.”

“Not more school kids Ouija boarding,” Takigawa groaned. “I don’t know if I can take it.”

“It’s a card game,” Naru clarified.

“Like tarot cards?” John asked.

Naru reached into his pocket and held up a single card for them to see. “Trading cards,” he said.

Five blank faces stared back at him, waiting for him to go on. At the desk on the other side of the room, Lin continued to type, mostly ignoring the conversation.

“I don’t get it,” Takigawa said.

“How could trading cards have anything to do with spirits?” Mai asked. “Are they cursed or something?”

“I don’t know,” Naru said calmly. “That’s what we have to find out.”

“Hang on a second,” Ayako demanded. “Why the whole city? This sounds like it should be more focused on schools, like Monk said.”

“Normally, you might have been correct, but the company that makes the game just put on a city-wide tournament. Needless to say, the problem has spread.”

“What types of activity are being reported?” Masako asked.

Naru began the long list casually. “Property damage, unexplained comas, people reportedly going mad, possessions… It’s even been said that there are gods walking the streets.”

“Gods?” Takigawa said seriously.

Mai felt herself go cold, unable to suppress the memory of the seashore cave where she had provoked Naru into using his powers against a god. She shuddered slightly as images of Lin fighting to restart Naru’s heart rose up even as she tried to force them away.

“So where is this city?” Ayako was saying when Mai finally brought her attention back to the conversation. “With that much going on, you’d think we would have heard about it before now.”

“Like I said before, most people haven’t figured out that all of these events are connected, so none of it would have made the news outside of the city itself. It’s a place called Domino City, near the coast, just a few hours’ drive from here. I’d like to leave tomorrow morning.”


	2. Chapter 2

September

Day 1

 

The next morning, Lin, Mai, John, Masako, and Ayako had all stuffed their bags into the trunk of Lin’s car and piled into the seats for the long, cramped drive to Domino City. Takigawa and Naru followed in the equipment van, and several hours later they arrived at the docks. Lin barely bothered pulling off to the side of the service road they had taken before taking the keys out of the ignition, but Takigawa pulled up alongside the car and rolled down his window.

“Hey, are we lost?” he asked, when Lin got out.

“Of course not,” Naru answered for him, opening his own door and getting out of the van. The others didn’t stop to ask questions. Mai threw open the passenger door of Lin’s car in such eagerness to get out and stretch that she nearly hit the side of the van.

“Careful there, Mai!” Takigawa’s hand shot out the window of the van to catch the door before it could connect.

“Oh, sorry! Thanks, Monk.” She got out of the car and Takigawa pushed the door shut as she linked her hands and stretched her arms out behind her. “Naru would be pretty upset with me if I damaged the van. Lin-san too I guess,” she said, smiling sheepishly. Mai looked around. She had expected Naru to say something snarky, confirming his displeasure with her carelessness, but he wasn’t there. Takigawa, Ayako, Masako, and John had all climbed out of the vehicles to stretch and look around, but Lin and Naru had disappeared. “Hey, wait,” she said. “Where did they go?”

Everyone glanced around the deserted road. Takigawa walked around to the other side of the van. “There they are,” he said, and everyone followed him away from the vehicles. Naru and Lin were standing further down the road, looking out at the water, or rather, above the water.

Mai looked up, squinting in the bright sunlight, and saw a shadow in the sky. It was growing steadily larger, and as she raised her arm to shade her eyes, the shadow sharpened into the shape of a dragon.

“Ah–!” Mai let out a startled shout and took a staggering step back, bumping into Takigawa. “Is that a dragon?!”

Everyone looked up immediately and stared as the shape made its rapid approach, touching down farther up the road from their group.

Without a word, Naru started walking toward where it had landed, Lin following silently, but after just a few steps Naru paused and turned back. “Well,” he said. “Are you all coming?” The other five hesitated, but Naru did not wait for them. He and Lin continued walking, leaving the others hurrying to catch up.

“So wait, what are we actually doing here, Naru?” Takigawa asked, coming up beside him. “That wasn’t really a dragon, just a fancy plane, right?”

“There’s someone I’d like to speak with before we get started on anything else,” Naru answered.

“Someone who flies around in an airplane that looks like a dragon?” Ayako muttered. “Somebody like that’s got to have at least as big an ego as Naru does.”

Takigawa and Mai both had to stifle their laughter.

As they approached, it became perfectly obvious that the dragon was, in fact, mechanical, as two people climbed out of its cockpit.

“Excuse me, Kaiba-san,” Naru said, walking right up to them. “Do you have a minute? I’d like to ask you some questions if you don’t mind.”

“Does Naru know them?” Mai quietly asked the group at large as they hung back slightly, watching Naru and the two passengers of the dragon jet. But no one answered, distracted by the arrival of another aircraft which landed beside the first.

Kaiba did not pay the second aircraft any mind. “Who are you?” he asked bluntly, glancing quickly but critically over Naru and the small group behind him.

“We’re from Shibuya,” Naru said, “We’re in town doing some research and we’d like to talk to you about your tournament.”

Kaiba scoffed and turned away. “I’m not interested in helping you write your school report, kid,” he said. “Come on, Mokuba.”

“Why that–!” Mai could hardly contain herself. _How arrogant!_ she ranted internally. _I can’t believe him! Where does he get off calling Naru “kid” like that? Who does he think he is?!_

The younger boy beside Kaiba looked up at him. “Nii-sama…” he said quietly, but anything else he might have added was interrupted.

“Kaiba-kun!”

This time Ayako was the one choking back laughter when she spotted the spiky, brightly colored hair of a short teen running up to join them, another small group following close behind.

“Hey, Kaiba,” one of the newcomers snapped at him as soon as he was in earshot. “What the hell were you thinking pulling a stunt like that without tellin’ anybody?”

A smirk appeared on Kaiba’s face. “I don’t need to explain myself to losers,” he said.

“This guy is way worse than Naru,” Mai muttered, and Ayako, Takigawa, and Masako all nodded, while John laughed nervously. Naru glanced back at them, but only for a moment.

“Huh? Who are you?” The short teen had turned his focus to Naru and his group with innocent curiosity.

“My name is Shibuya Kazuya,” Naru answered. “I’m in charge of Shibuya Psychic Research. We’re paranormal investigators.”

The smirk vanished instantly from Kaiba’s face. “Not more of this nonsense,” he said, cutting Naru off before he could continue. “You people have wasted enough of my time. Let’s go, Mokuba. We have work to do.” He turned sharply, his long white coat swirling out behind him, and strode off at a brisk pace.

“Ah, Nii-sama!” Mokuba stared after his brother for a moment before turning back to Naru and the SPR team and quickly apologizing. Then he ran after Kaiba.

“K-Kaiba-kun, wait!” Yuugi shouted after him. He babbled a quick “nice to meet you” back at Naru and the others before hurrying after Kaiba. The rest of the group that had come over from the second aircraft gave the SPR team curious, or in some cases suspicious, looks but Naru made no attempt to speak with any of them and they quickly lost interest and headed off after Yuugi and Kaiba.

“Well that was a waste of time,” Ayako said, hands on her hips as she watched them go.

“Not at all,” Naru said easily. He glanced over at Masako. She had her sleeve raised to her lips and a distant, thoughtful look on her face. No one else seemed to notice. “We’re done here,” he continued. “I have some research to do. Let’s head to the hotel. We can pick up the investigation again tomorrow morning.”

“What? That’s it?” Mai said as Naru turned to head back toward the cars. He didn’t answer and she let out a heavy sigh as she trudged after him with the others. “When the heck are we gonna find out what this case is really about?” she muttered.

“Never mind that for now,” Ayako said leaning over toward Mai. “Did he say hotel?”


	3. Chapter 3

September

Day 1

 

Naru had insistently refused the hovering valets in front of the hotel, instructing Takigawa and Lin to drive their vehicles into the hotel parking garage themselves. For a short time, Takigawa did not think the staff would go along with it. It was clearly against hotel policy, but a quick, murmured conversation out the passenger side window between Naru and the valet manager had them waving the SPR team through to the garage entrance.

They pulled into spots near the elevator and climbed out of the vehicles. Naru opened the back of the equipment van and pulled out his laptop bag, slipping it onto his shoulder before grabbing a small duffle and starting toward the elevator. Lin also opened his trunk and extricated his own laptop and duffle from amidst the many bags crammed into the small space. Taking their lead, everyone grabbed their own luggage, but when Lin moved to close up the vehicles, Mai said, “We have plenty of extra hands; shouldn’t we try to get some of the equipment too?”

“Of course not,” Masako said smoothly, “It’s not like we’re going to be using it here; the hotel isn’t haunted.” She then headed off after Naru and Lin, who were walking away toward a nearby elevator, and Mai made a face at her back.

The elevator doors opened revealing a surprisingly spacious and luxurious car. Red plush carpet covered the floor and the bottom half of the walls, and gilded mirrors made up the top. A delicate chandelier hung from the ceiling at a height that was unobtrusive for everyone except Lin, who kept to the corner to avoid running into it.

Naru pressed the button for the main level and the door eased silently shut. A few moments passed and Mai was starting to wonder if the elevator, despite its flawless appearance, was out of order, but then the doors opened again and she realized that the ride had simply been so smooth and quiet that she didn’t even know they had moved.

Naru strode out of the elevator and went to the front desk, leaving his team to trickle slowly out into the lavish lobby, openly gawking, with the exception of Lin who followed after him as soon as he could get out from behind the others. The high ceiling was buried in crystals that glimmered with light that seemed to come from everywhere at once. Every staff member was dressed in a perfectly crisp and tidy suit, which wasn’t surprising, but all of the guests seemed to be dressed for business in expensive looking clothing as well. The murmur of conversation in the lobby blended with the gentle trickle of the elegant fountain in the center of the space, but Mai thought she could hear a spattering of different languages among them.

“We seem a little outta place,” John muttered, looking around. Mai nodded. She definitely felt underdressed if nothing else, but Masako just smirked and glided forward, leaving them behind to go to Naru’s side as if she belonged there, and Mai had to admit that she looked like she did, though she was fairly certain it was due more to the capable way she carried herself in the rich atmosphere than her elegant, traditional kimono. Naru and Lin gave off the same feeling. Ayako seemed to have picked up on this as well and she also strode forward with confidence to join them at the front desk. Takigawa followed but somehow Mai thought he looked more like he knew he didn’t belong and simply didn’t care. She and John were left alone by the elevators. She looked over at him and he gave her a sheepish smile. “I guess it can’t really be helped.”

As Mai and John joined the rest of the team at the front desk, the receptionist handed Naru several key cards.

“Monk-san and John, you’ll be in room 1533,” Naru said, handing each of them a card. “Lin and I will be in 1535, and our room will double as our base during our time here.” He gave a card to Lin. “And Mai, Hara-san, and Matsuzaki-san will be in room 1537.” He gave each of the girls a card as well and slipped his into his coat pocket. “Let’s head up.”

Takigawa waited for the elevator doors to close before he spoke up. “Naru… who is this client anyway?”

“Our client prefers to remain anonymous,” Naru answered.

“But _you_ know who it is, right?”

“I do.”

“And I bet Lin-san knows, too, right?” Takigawa said.

“No, he doesn’t.”

“What?” Mai said, and everyone but Naru turned to look at Lin. “Lin-san is that true?”

“That’s right,” Lin said.

“Wait a minute,” Takigawa turned back to Naru as the elevator door slid open. “Naru, you do actually _know_ who this person is, don’t you. You wouldn’t just take a job from anybody.”

“No, I wouldn’t,” Naru answered. “So you can stop focusing on that and start thinking about the case.”

Everyone followed Naru out of the elevator and they started down the hall toward their rooms. “Take a few minutes to put your bags down, then meet us at the base,” he said as they came to Takigawa’s and John’s room. Without another word, Naru and Lin passed the room by and entered their own next door.

“Ah, geez. What’s the big idea,” Mai complained.

“That’s Shibuya-san for ya,” John said.

Ayako sighed. “Let’s just go check out the room.”


	4. Chapter 4

September

Day 1

 

Mai opened the door to the girls’ hotel room and stopped short with a gasp. Before her was an extravagant sitting room with a large, plush couch, elaborate writing desk, and the largest flat screen TV Mai had ever seen.

“What’s the hold up,” Ayako complained, giving Mai a light shove to move her into the room. Ayako and Masako walked in after her and looked around. “Wow, pretty nice,” Ayako said appreciatively. “I could get used to this.” She and Masako continued further into the spacious room and followed a short hallway past the bathroom and into the bedroom beyond. It was a few more moments before Mai could shake herself from her awe and follow, and by the time she did, Masako and Ayako had already each claimed one of the two beds.

“Wait, there’s only two?” Mai said. “Where do I sleep?”

“The couch looks pretty comfortable. I’m sure you’ll be fine,” Ayako said, waving her question away. Mai thought of arguing for a moment before she went back into the sitting room and set her bag on the couch. Truth be told, even the couch looked like it would be more comfortable than her own bed back home, and she didn’t feel up to arguing about it. It had been a long, confusing day and all she really wanted now were some answers about this mysterious case Naru had taken.

“Hey, let’s head over to the base,” Mai called into the bedroom.

 

Takigawa and John were already there and the door was standing open when the girls went next door. It appeared that each of the three rooms – or suites, as it turned out – were laid out the same way, and Naru had already set up camp at the writing desk. His laptop was open in front of him and the screen was filled with several different windows, the most prominent of which displayed information about something called the Battle City Tournament, a company called KaibaCorp, and what looked like the homepage for a website devoted entirely to fans of the occult in Domino City.

“I’ve decided to split the group up into three small teams, at least while we gather more information,” Naru said as they walked in.

“What?” Mai exclaimed. “Isn’t that dangerous?”

“The teams will be the same as the rooming assignments,” he continued without hesitation. “And each team will have a few specific people I’d like you to speak with about our case. Lin is printing out their information in one of the business lounges now.”

There was an uneasy silence in which Mai refused obstinately to make any further comment after having been so thoroughly ignored. She crossed her arms and huffed indignantly.

“Well… I guess we do have a lotta ground ta cover…” John said, hoping to ease some of the tension in the room. Lin returned at that moment, several sheets of paper in hand, and gave them to Naru who distributed them among the teams. Ayako took the girls’ and Mai and Masako gathered around her to read.

“Kujaku Mai-san and Otogi Ryuji-san,” Ayako read as she held their two sheets out next to each other.

“We’ve got…” Takigawa separated his and John’s two sheets. “Mazaki Anzu-san and Isis Ishtar.”

Masako went over to where Naru was sitting to look at his papers over his shoulder. “Kaiba Mokuba-san…” she read from the top sheet. “Was that who you were speaking to at the docks?” she asked him.

“It’s his younger brother. I think we’ll have more luck if we start with him, given the reception the elder Kaiba gave us.”

“So you’re gonna try to meet with just the younger brother?” Takigawa said doubtfully. “Do you really think that jerk will go along with that?”

“I don’t intend to ask him,” Naru answered.

“Whoa, hold on. You’re not planning on kidnapping the kid, are you?”

“Don’t be ridiculous; I hardly think he’d tell me anything useful if I did something like that.”

_Yeah, like that’s the only thing wrong with that,_ Mai thought.

“I expect everyone to meet back here by early evening tomorrow to share what you’ve learned.” With that, Naru turned back to his computer and the group gradually dispersed with only minimal eye rolls and shaking of heads.


	5. Chapter 5

September

Day 2

 

Shizuka was feeling restless. She had come to Domino City with her mother less than a week ago and already she’d been bounced from the hotel, to the hospital, to an airship, and back to the hotel where her mother was not pleased to hear that she’d disappeared for two days because she’d been, as her mother put it, “dragged off to play those silly card games with Katsuya.” Sitting in the hotel room was becoming unbearable, so she took a key card and wandered down to the lobby with no real purpose. She was a little baffled at first when a handsome young man came up to her and introduced himself.

“Excuse me,” he said. “Are you Kawai Shizuka?”

“Uh… yes,” she answered, stumbling slightly over the words and blushing in spite of herself.

“My name is Shibuya Kazuya and this is my assistant Lin Koujo.” He gestured behind him at an extremely tall man. “We didn’t get the chance to speak with you at the docks yesterday. Do you mind if I ask you some questions?”

“Questions?” Shizuka repeated.

“About the tournament,” he clarified.

“Oh, I-I don’t really know much about it. I only saw the end really.”

Shoulders hunched, arms held close to her body, she was fidgeting and her eyes were fixed on the floor.

“Is something wrong?” Naru asked without a hint of concern.

Shizuka looked up quickly and forced a smile. “No, no…”

“That’s good,” he continued. “Because I’d heard rumors that there was something strange going on during the finals.”

Again Shizuka’s face betrayed her thoughts and she seemed to close in on herself even further.

“Could you tell me what happened?”

“I-I should get going. Ka-san–”

“I might be able to help, you know,” he continued. “I’m a professional ghost hunter.”

This made her pause. “Ghost… hunter?” she repeated.

“I just need you to tell me what happened. Anything you remember,” he said.

Shizuka hesitated a little longer before muttering softly, “I don’t know if it was… ghosts… but… something happened to Onii-chan… And to Mai-san.” She was starting to tremble and her eyes were distant with memories. “Bakura-san and Rishid-san… and even Anzu-chan and Yuugi-san too…”

“But they’re all right now?” Naru asked, going over each of the faces he’d seen at the docks to match them to the names. “Did something happen?”

She had started crying at some point but Naru hadn’t noticed. “I-I think Yuugi-san–”

“Shizuka!” Shizuka’s mother ran up to them and put her arm around her daughter, tilting her face up so she could see it more clearly. “What’s wrong? Are you all right? Are your eyes bothering you? I knew it was too soon for you to be running around out of the hospital.”

“Ka-san… my eyes… are fine,” she insisted between small, breathy sobs. “It’s not that.”

The woman rounded on Naru and Lin. “Who are you?” she snapped, squeezing Shizuka’s shoulders. “Did you make her cry?

“Come on, Shizuka,” she said without waiting for a reply. She led the girl away without another word and Naru sighed.

“Let’s go, Lin. We should be able to meet with her brother before we head to the park.”

 

Jounouchi reached for the phone lazily after the first few rings and picked it up. “’Lo,” he mumbled.

“Onii-chan…” Shizuka’s voice came over the line and he sat up immediately.

“Shizuka–”

“Onii-chan, those people from the docks yesterday… They were at our hotel this morning.”

“Huh?” Jounouchi pulled the phone away from his ear and looked at it dumbly for a moment. “Well, didn’t they say they were from Shibuya? They’re probably staying there.”

“No they… they said they wanted to talk to me about the tournament.”

Jounouchi tensed. “Yeah…?” he said hesitantly. “What about?”

“I didn’t really tell him much,” she said quickly. “I got kind of upset… remembering everything… and Ka-san made them leave.”

“Shizuka…”

There was a firm rap at the door and Jounouchi turned on the couch to look back at it.

“Ah, um, was that someone at your door?” Shizuka asked. “You should probably answer it.”

“But–”

“I’m fine, Onii-chan, really. I just… wanted to hear your voice.” Jounouchi could hear the smile in her voice when she added, “I’ll talk to you later, okay?”

“Okay,” he conceded.

“Bye-bye.”

“Bye.”

He hung up the phone and got up from the couch with a frustrated sigh, distracted with thoughts of Shizuka as he pulled open the door. It took him a full five seconds of numb silence for him to realize who was on the other side.

“ _You!_ ” he snapped.

Naru and Lin looked back at him blankly. “Yes?” Naru said.

“Are you the ones who upset Shizuka?”

“She got upset,” Naru replied coolly. “It wasn’t any fault of our own.”

A sound started building in Jounouchi’s chest that was vaguely reminiscent of an engine revving before he exploded on them, stepping through the doorway and pushing Naru and Lin back a few steps. “Stay the hell away from her!” he shouted. “She’s got nothing to do with any of this!”

“Oh?” Naru stared back at Jounouchi, his arms still folded neatly in front of him and his face still expressionless, though his eyes flashed with interest at Jounouchi’s words. “Nothing to do with what, exactly?”

Jounouchi answered with a hard glare and Naru added, “Does Mutou Yuugi have something more to do with it then?”

“You listen up, pretty boy. Stay _away_ from my sister _and_ my friends or you’re gonna regret ever coming to our city, got it?” He turned from them sharply and went back inside, slamming the door behind him with full force.

Naru let out a light laugh at the implied threat. “I think we’re getting somewhere,” he said as they headed away.

On the other side of the door, Jounouchi picked up the phone and started dialing.


	6. Chapter 6

September

Day 2

 

Takigawa let out a groan of frustration the moment they were clear of the museum steps. “You know, for someone who’s only been working at this museum for a few weeks, she sure has a loyal secretary,” he complained, cramming the folded printout Naru had given him back into his pocket.

“She’s supposed ta be an important member of the Egyptian government, right? I’m not surprised they screen her visitors,” John commented as they headed down the street.

“Yeah, but what do we tell Naru-bou? He’s not gonna accept that as an excuse.”

John pulled out the other printout and unfolded it. “Maybe we’ll have better luck with Mazaki-san,” he suggested. “She doesn’t live very far from here at all.”

Takigawa sighed heavily but agreed and they headed to Anzu’s house, but they did not have any better luck there. Apparently, no one was home.

It was on Takigawa’s suggestion that they decided to take a break and get some lunch. The little burger place they walked into really only had the appeal of convenience going for it, until a familiar face came up to their table with their tray of food.

“Hey, aren’t you Mazaki Anzu-san?” John said, looking up at the tall teen. She hesitated for a moment before setting the tray down.

“Do I know you?” Anzu asked. She felt like she had seen them before, but couldn’t quite place where.

“Uh, no, not really,” Takigawa said a little sheepishly, but whatever he was about to say next was cut off when Anzu gasped.

“You’re Norio! I’ve been to one of your shows!”

Takigawa immediately grinned. “Oh yeah? A fan, huh? That’s great, ‘cause I could really use some help with something, if you wouldn’t mind. See, we’re in town looking into that big tournament that just ended and we were hoping you might know something about it.”

A look of anxiety flashed across Anzu’s face just briefly before she narrowed her eyes at the two of them. “That’s right,” she said. “I remember hearing a rumor that you deal with a lot of curses and things… You two were at the docks yesterday, weren’t you.”

“Uh, yeah, that’s right,” Takigawa said.

“And what was it exactly that your group does again?” She had taken on a tone and posture that most often accompanied a scolding and Takigawa resisted the urge to shrink back as she loomed over them in their booth.

“We’re paranormal investigators,” John supplied, easing some of the Anzu’s critical focus off of Takigawa. “Or ghost hunters, I guess. Actually, I’m an exorcist an’ Takigawa-san’s a monk.”

Anzu froze. Then, slowly, she repeated, “Exorcist…?”

John and Takigawa shared a quick look before John continued. “Yeah, I specialize in removin’ spirits from the people they’ve possessed an’–”

Anzu suddenly turned her back on them. “I have to get back to work,” she said, the words spilling out so quickly they blurred together. “I don’t know why you’d be interested in the tournament, but I don’t know anything about it. Enjoy your meal.” She hurried off before Takigawa or John could say another word and disappeared around a corner and into the kitchen.

Takigawa let out another exasperated sigh and picked up his drink, sipping thoughtfully at the straw as he stared over at where Anzu had disappeared. “Do you really think she doesn’t know anything?” he muttered eventually.

“I think it’s pretty clear somethin’ I said upset her,” John replied. “I just can’t imagine what.”

In the back of the restaurant, Anzu found her manager and asked if she could leave early, claiming illness. He gave her a disapproving look, but agreed, and Anzu was sure it had at least something to do with the fact that her face had gone white as a sheet. She left out the back entrance and hurried away from the building, her phone already out before she had turned the first corner. Yuugi’s number was speed dial 2.


	7. Chapter 7

September

Day 2

 

There was a public park within walking distance of the KaibaCorp office building, and it was there that Naru and Lin sat, waiting for Mokuba to arrive. They weren’t waiting long. Mokuba made it to the park exactly on time and spotted the two of them on the bench he had described to them as a landmark for their meeting place. Mokuba walked up but stopped a good distance away, only just close enough that they could talk without raising their voices. Lin and Naru stood.

“Stay right there,” Mokuba said firmly. “Let’s get a few things straight before anything else.” Lin glanced subtly at Naru, but Naru was giving his full attention to Mokuba.

“Go on,” he said.

“KaibaCorp security knows where I am, who I’m meeting, and when to expect me back,” he said in clear warning. “And I’ve got some of them hanging around nearby, too. Just in case.”

“That’s a lot of precautions to take,” Naru commented, though he did not sound at all surprised. “Can I ask why you agreed to meet with us?”

Mokuba’s eyes lowered. “I was hoping you’d be able to help me,” he said quietly, but then he looked up again and added, “You’re a paranormal investigator, right? And you have people on your team that can fight off spirits and magic.”

“I don’t know about magic,” Naru said. “But whatever is going on in this city, it’s our job to find the cause and take care of it, yes.”

Mokuba shook his head. “It’s not the city,” he said. “It’s – well, I don’t really understand it myself but… Anyway, I was hoping you’d be able to teach me. I need some way to protect myself and… everybody when this stuff starts happening.”

Naru glanced at Lin but Lin only closed his eyes. “It’s not quite that simple,” Naru explained. “There are far too many aspects of parapsychology for us to be able to teach you anything useful in a short amount of time, and the wards we could teach you will provide only minimal protection on their own. You’re not a spiritualist or a psychic. This isn’t something you can handle yourself.”

“Are you sure?” Mokuba asked, hoping the words didn’t come out sounding quite at desperate as he felt.

“For right now, the best thing to do would be to let us take care of the problem, and you can help us do that if you tell us more about what’s been happening. Why did you say ‘it’s not the city’?”

_Because it’s not; it’s Yuugi._ Mokuba felt bad for thinking it, but at the same time there was no denying that whenever soul-stealing magic was involved, Yuugi somehow was as well. But Mokuba also knew that Yuugi was not to blame for it either, so he stayed quiet, trying to find a way to explain.

“Is it Mutou Yuugi-san?” Naru asked.

Mokuba looked up abruptly, a rush of wild thoughts about psychics chasing circles in his head before he could rein them in, and when he did, it was already too late. His face had given away everything. “No,” he said anyway. “Not… exactly. There are these people who sometimes turn up… and they can do things…”

He was twisting onto a new topic, but Naru let it go. “What sort of things?” he prompted.

“They… They can trap people’s souls,” Mokuba murmured, almost afraid to speak the words out loud. He was too accustomed to keeping these things to himself when around his brother. “And control people’s minds. Bring monsters to life…”

“…And you’ve experienced this firsthand,” Naru stated quietly.

Mokuba only nodded, his eyes now locked firmly on the ground as he fought the fear and memories back down.

“Lin,” Naru said after some thought. “I’d like you to teach Kaiba-san some basic wards. It’s better than nothing. I’ll have Matsuzaki-san make some charms as well until we figure this out. But first,” he added, addressing Mokuba again. “I’d like you to tell us more about these… people, and their abilities.”

 

Kaiba glanced up from his laptop for the fifth time in thirty minutes, glaring at the empty couch in front of his desk. When Mokuba had left half an hour ago, Kaiba had distantly thought it was a little strange. The plan was to leave for America in less than forty-eight hours and there was still plenty to do before then. Even when things weren’t so busy, Mokuba tended to take his lunch breaks in the office like Kaiba did (when Kaiba even bothered to), but Kaiba had not questioned it at the time. Now, however, it was pulling at his mind, a nagging inconsistency that would not settle.

Kaiba reached for the phone and put it on speaker before pushing a quick, short succession of numbers. His hands moved automatically back to his keyboard after he had dialed, but the call was answered quickly, cutting the first ring short.

“Kaiba-sama,” a deep voice said at the other end of the line. “Is everything all right, sir?”

“Did Mokuba tell you where he was going today?” Kaiba asked. His voice was cool on the surface but still demanding.

There was a slight pause. “Yes, sir,” the man at the security desk answered. “He said he wanted to see Mutou Yuugi and some friends before leaving for America.”

Kaiba’s hand twitched on the keyboard. It was a good lie – he expected no less from Mokuba – but the security officer, it seemed, was simply not up to the task of deceiving Kaiba. The pause before his answer should definitely have been longer.

“I’m sure he did say that,” Kaiba said, finally drawing his hands away from his laptop and leaning back in his chair. “But I’m asking where he _went._ ”

This time there was no delay to his answer at all. “I’m sure he went to meet Mutou-san, sir. Would you like me to–?”

“Sure enough to be comfortable with the knowledge that your job now depends on the answer I would get if I called the Kame Game Shop right now?”

A few seconds of silence followed, then, “Yes, sir. Sorry, sir. He’s at Domino City Park with someone named Shibuya Kazuya.”

Kaiba reached over and ended the call with a quiet, chilling calm. He sat still for just a few moments, then stood and left the office.

 

He spotted two men from his security team first. They were standing around by a fountain, blatantly conspicuous in their dark suits, sunglasses, and ear pieces. Kaiba swept right past them and they almost didn’t notice, but even after they realized who had just walked by, they didn’t say anything, only exchanging nervous glances as they watched him go. He found Mokuba only seconds later. He was standing with the kid who Kaiba knew to be Shibuya Kazuya and another, extremely tall man, and they were talking.

The sliver of fear that had been the wedge holding back his anger vanished as soon as he saw that Mokuba was all right. His pace quickened subtly and he was beside the three almost before they had noticed him. “What do you think you’re doing?” he demanded, glaring openly at Naru and Lin.

“Ah, Nii-sama…” Mokuba took a step back from them.

“Kaiba-san,” Naru said, turning to Kaiba. “We were just talking to your brother about–”

“Save it,” Kaiba snapped. “I don’t want to hear one more word about the ‘paranormal’ from you or anyone else, and if you ever try to contact us again, I’ll have your _‘business’_ shut down.”

“Nii-sama!” Mokuba protested, but Kaiba was already walking away. Mokuba hesitated, glancing back at Naru and Lin but unable to meet their eyes.

“It’s all right,” Naru said, sounding almost uninterested. “I understand.”

Mokuba looked up at him for a moment then nodded quickly, apologizing again before running after his brother.

Kaiba’s long strides had quickened in his anger and he had already made it to the fountain by the time Mokuba caught up. He didn’t stop and Mokuba hurried along beside him but Kaiba did not say a word. Even after they reached the private express elevator in the KaibaCorp building that went directly up to his top-floor office, Kaiba kept up his steely silence.

Mokuba didn’t say anything either though the silence pressed on him much more heavily than the speed of their ascent. There were vanishingly few occasions on which Mokuba felt intimidated by his brother, but right now he could not bring himself to look up at Kaiba’s face. He was starting to wonder if his speaking to the SPR team had been some kind of betrayal, and he couldn’t help but feel that some of that cold, towering, dignified rage was meant for him.

They finally reached the office and Kaiba closed them securely inside before he turned to Mokuba and said calmly, “I want to know why.”

Mokuba looked away. He had been hoping for a little time to manipulate the conversation during explanations of how and what and when, but he also supposed he should have known that his brother would have figured those things out for himself and would get straight to the point.

“I know you had to have had a good reason,” Kaiba pressed, sparing Mokuba no sympathy, his voice hard. “I want to hear it.”

Mokuba looked up again. “Nii-sama…” he started quietly. “They don’t mean any harm. They were only trying to help–”

Kaiba scoffed and walked around his desk to look out over the city through the wall of windows. “They’re just busybodies sticking their noses into things that are none of their business.” _Like Yuugi,_ he finished in his head, glaring down at the rooftops of Domino. He glanced over his shoulder. Mokuba was still standing across the room from him, holding very still and staring determinedly at the carpet. Kaiba watched him for just a moment more before turning back to the windows. “You haven’t answered my question,” he said.

Mokuba’s fists clenched and he swallowed hard before speaking. “I’m not going to,” he said firmly.

This time Kaiba turned fully from the window, staring at Mokuba from behind his desk. Before he could say anything, Mokuba continued.

“I _did_ have a good reason to go there, but I’m not going to tell you why.” He was meeting Kaiba’s eyes now, his face strangely serious, almost angry.

“Mokuba…” Kaiba hesitated for a second, taken aback by the unusual display. Then he walked around the desk and took to one knee in front of Mokuba so they could speak at eyelevel. “What’s wrong?”

Mokuba felt his anger quickly slipping away in the face of his brother’s concern. For a moment, he tried to hang on to it, but the more he thought about what was wrong the faster it faded, replaced by worry and fear. “I keep thinking about it,” he said quietly, as if that was answer enough.

“About what?” Kaiba prompted.

Mokuba’s hands moved up to hold his locket. His voice remained quiet, but steady. “What it would have been like if you hadn’t woken up.”

There was no need for him to elaborate. Kaiba had gone cold at his words, resisting the memory of those months spent in blackness while he slowly pieced himself back together.

“Or what would have happened to us if Yuugi hadn’t saved us from Pegasus,” Mokuba went on. “I know you don’t like Yuugi, Nii-sama, but if he hadn’t been there, what would we have done?”

Silence settled over them after Mokuba finished and it took Kaiba several seconds to realize that his fist was clenched so tightly his hand was shaking. He forced himself calm again and thought back to what Naru had said at the docks.

_Paranormal investigators._ “That’s why you wanted to talk to them,” he said, but he couldn’t bring himself to say the words that should have followed. _Because_ _I can’t protect you from everything._ He wanted to tell Mokuba that he didn’t have to worry about things like that – that he would take care of everything – but he had failed too often before. The reassurance died before it could be spoken and the office was silent again.

For a few seconds that dragged on like minutes in the ringing silence of the room, Mokuba did not want to look at his brother. He felt like he’d been caught doing something shameful when Kaiba had realized Mokuba’s intent behind going to meet with the SPR team. When Mokuba finally did look up, he saw that Kaiba had also looked away, battling his own shame in the face of that realization, his eyes unfocused as he stared at a spot on the floor somewhere off to the side. Mokuba shivered. It reminded him too much of the blank stare his brother had worn after his soul had been shattered.

All at once, Mokuba threw himself forward, wrapping his arms around Kaiba tightly. Kaiba blinked and looked down at Mokuba, and slowly his arms encircled him, holding him without a word.

Mokuba relaxed the moment he felt his brother’s arms around him. “I’m sorry, Nii-sama,” he said. “I shouldn’t have gone off on my own without telling you.”

“I know why you did,” Kaiba said with some effort though the words came out calm and reassuring. “Don’t worry about it.” He pulled away from Mokuba and stood, walking over to his desk to pick up his laptop. “Come on. We still have a lot of work to do before we leave for America.”

Mokuba brightened instantly, a grin spreading across his face. “Right!”


	8. Chapter 8

September

Day 2 – Evening

 

“Don’t feel too bad about it, Monk-san, John,” Mai said as they were sitting together at their base after everyone had returned from their assignments. “We didn’t have much luck either.”

“Yeah, all that Otogi kid could tell us is that there was definitely something strange going on, but he didn’t have a clue as to what,” Ayako complained.

“We even made sure to ask him about his store burning down before the tournament,” Mai added. “But he insists it was just an accident.”

“What about Kujaku Mai-san?” Naru asked. He was leaning against the wall by the desk where Lin was typing a transcription of the discussion.

Masako shook her head. “We couldn’t find her. We asked around but she was most likely only in town for the tournament and has already gone home.”

“None of that is particularly useful,” Naru stated.

Mai swelled with indignation and opened her mouth to say something but Takigawa beat her to it.

“Well, what did you find out, Naru-chan?” he said, leaning back into the plush couch.

Naru glanced up from the new collection of printouts in his hand just briefly before going back to them, looking bored. “I now know that no less than seven of the people who were at the finals were directly involved in some kind of paranormal incident, that Otogi Ryuji was probably not lying when he said he didn’t know what was going on, that Mazaki Anzu almost certainly _was_ lying when she said she didn’t know anything about it, and that Mutou Yuugi, the winner of the tournament, is at the center of everything strange that’s been happening here.”

Mai was stunned silent for a moment before she dropped heavily into an empty chair. “Unbelievable, Naru,” she said mildly. “Don’t you ever get tired of being one step ahead of the rest of us?”

“You would think so, since it happens so often,” he said, not looking up from the printouts. “But no.”

Irritation was starting to build in Mai again, but she was distracted when Naru handed her one of the sheets he’d been holding and tossed another into the garbage.

“I don’t think Honda Hiroto will be able to tell us anything of value, so I’m changing the teams. Ayako and Mai, you’ll go with Monk and John to speak to Bakura Ryou tomorrow. Masako, you’ll come with Lin and me to speak to Mutou Yuugi.”

Masako smiled sweetly behind her sleeve. “Of course,” she said lightly. “I’d be delighted.”

Mai was suddenly on her feet again. “You shouldn’t go alone!” Naru gave her a flat look and she flushed slightly, embarrassed at her outburst, but she didn’t back down. “We should all go together this time. You _just_ said Mutou Yuugi is at the center of everything that’s been happening. We shouldn’t split up!”

“Don’t get so excited over nothing,” Naru scolded. “The teams are balanced. Even if something did go wrong, which I doubt will happen anyway, Lin would be able to handle it, and with both Monk and John, your team should also be fine.”

Off to the side, Ayako was resentfully muttering something about a lack of live trees and being overlooked, but Takigawa spoke up, talking over her.

“If Naru-bou thinks it’ll be okay, I’m inclined to believe him. He’s not one to take chances. Remember the Urado case?”

“Masako was almost killed during that case!” Mai objected.

“And that wouldn’t have happened if you had listened to my instructions back then,” Naru quickly reminded her, his arms folded as he calmly stared Mai down.

“Masako’s the one who went off on her own; why am _I_ the only one getting lectured!” _Still…_ Mai thought in the back of her mind. _He’s sort of right. I knew we were supposed to stay together, but I let Masako leave by herself…_

“Come on, Mai. It’ll be fine. I’ll protect you,” Takigawa proclaimed with a wide grin in an attempt to cheer her up.

“It’s not me I’m worried about!” Mai shot back without thinking. She immediately regretted it, but Takigawa’s eyes softened with understanding. It was Lin, however, who spoke.

“You don’t have to worry,” he said, half turning in the chair to look over at Mai. “I won’t let Naru do anything stupid again.”

There was a beat of silence before Takigawa’s and Ayako’s sniggering was heard from behind raised hands and gleeful expressions, and Naru turned away with a sour look on his face.

“Well if that’s all settled,” he said in a clipped tone. “You can all go back to your own rooms now.” He stalked off into the connected bedroom and Mai could have sworn she saw a faint smile on Lin’s face as everyone else headed out into the hall.


	9. Chapter 9

September

Day 3

 

Mai looked around curiously at the glass display cases and illustrated timelines on the walls. _I’m at a museum…_ she thought. _But it’s not one I’ve ever been to._ She looked more closely at one of the information panels next to a display. “Ancient Egypt…?” She glanced again at the exhibits all around her and realized that the entire room had been devoted to artifacts and information about Egyptian history. “Why am I – oh, Naru!” she said, spotting him as she completed her slow, surveying circle. 

Mai was offered a kind smile, and he gestured to a doorway behind him. The room beyond it was dark.

“What’s that?” Mai asked, moving closer. He stepped aside and light slowly filled the room as Mai approached. She peeked inside then wandered in, staring up at the large stone tablets displayed behind glass on one of the walls. She was drawn over to the farthest one, where the images of two people were carved, facing each other with flames between them and monsters hovering overhead. She squinted a little at the scene, trying to place the nagging sense of familiarity.

“Oh!” she gasped suddenly. “It’s that kid from the docks! But why…?”

“I don’t know.”

“Naru?” Mai glanced over her shoulder at him. He was staring at the tablet, his face much more serious than she was used to seeing in her dreams. “Oh,” she murmured, “I _am_ dreaming, right?”

He glanced away from the tablet just long enough to smile at her again and she felt darkness creeping in at the edges of her vision, and distant sounds pulling her mind away from where she was. She looked again at the carvings in the stone, trying to memorize as much of it as she could, even as she felt herself waking.

The museum vanished into shadows and Mai tried to open her eyes, but still all she could see was blackness. She reached out, wondering if the wall and tablet were still in front of her, but nothing was there. Panic rose up, tightening in her chest as she shuffled forward slightly, hoping for some clue, anything to tell her where she was. Faint screams in a language she did not recognize echoed softly from somewhere far away and she turned carefully, trying to determine their direction. Then the golden, glowing outline of an eye appeared from the darkness in a flash, bearing down on her. The screams grew louder and the eye loomed closer and Mai covered her ears and shut her eyes, but she could still see the golden outline in her mind. Something grabbed onto her and she screamed and jerked away. There was a harsh _thump_ and her eyes flew open.

“ _Mai!_ ” Ayako was standing over her, still hanging on to her arm and shaking her.

“Ayako…?” Mai murmured in a confused haze as the room came into focus around her. Masako was also standing nearby, watching Mai with some concern, but the expression vanished as soon as Mai looked over at her.

“You’re going to be late,” Masako said. She went to the door.

“…Late?”

“We’re going to meet with Bakura Ryou today, remember?” Ayako sighed. “If you’re still feeling up to it, anyway…”

“Huh?” Mai finally looked down at herself and realized she had fallen off of the couch and was tangled up in her blanket. “Ah, of course I am, just give me a minute!” she said, springing up. She kicked off the blanket and made a dash for the bathroom, the last echoes of her dream vanishing from her mind.

 

The young man who answered the door was timid and polite and looked worn down. He listened quietly as Takigawa, Ayako, Mai, and John introduced themselves and asked if they would be able to speak with him, and he invited them inside without the slightest show of suspicion or hesitation.

“You were all at the docks the other day, right?” he asked as he led them to a small sitting room. “I, uh, I recognized Hara-san from TV,” he admitted, blushing. “I would have liked to meet her. Ah, um, I’ll make some tea.” He hurried off into the kitchen before anyone could offer to help.

“So he’s a fan of Masako-chan, huh?” Takigawa said, grinning.

“I bet he’s possessed,” Ayako joked.

“Don’t say things like that!” Mai protested immediately. “He seems really sweet; it would be awful if–”

There was the sound of shattering porcelain from the kitchen and all four of them were on their feet in an instant.

“Bakura-san!” Mai called out as they all rushed around the corner. Bakura was crouched on the floor, picking up the larger pieces of a broken tea cup.

“Sorry about that,” he said, dropping the pieces into the garbage and leaving the rest on the floor as he continued to prepare the tea. “I’m just a bit clumsy. Nothing to worry about.” He smiled and Mai felt a shiver run through her though she could not quite put her finger on why.

“Do ya want some help?” John offered, already moving into the kitchen.

“No, that’s all right, thank you. It’s just about finished. You all go on and have a seat. I’ll be in in just a second.”

The group moved hesitantly back into the sitting room and Bakura followed shortly after, carrying a tray with five steaming cups on it. He set it on the coffee table and gestured for everyone to take one. Mai leaned forward to accept his offer and the others followed suit, but before she could take a sip, Takigawa elbowed her lightly, a subtle movement that he hoped Bakura would miss. She looked up at him, confused, and when Bakura took a sip from his own cup, Takigawa gestured to Mai not to drink it. Her eyes widened in realization and she let out a quiet, nervous laugh as she watched Ayako pretend to drink out of the corner of her eye.

“So, what did you want to talk to me about?” Bakura asked cheerfully, showing no sign whatsoever that he’d noticed the silent communication among the group seated across from him.

“We heard you were in the finals a the tournament that just ended,” John supplied, cradling his untouched tea in both hands. “Ya must be pretty good at that game… What was it called? Duel Monsters?”

Bakura laughed lightly. “I just got lucky,” he said. “I lost in the very first duel.”

“Bakura-san… did you notice anything strange going on during the finals?” Takigawa asked, the words slow, careful. He was taken aback by Bakura’s energetic answer.

“Do _you_ know what was going on?” he asked, sitting up straighter and actually scooting to the edge of his seat. “I was so confused. I didn’t know what was happening. It was very strange. Hara-san is a psychic medium right?” he asked in a rush. “Are you her assistants? Are you trying to figure out what happened?”

“We are not her assistants!” Ayako and Mai snapped back in unison.

Bakura blinked innocently. “Oh,” he said. “Well if that’s not it, what do all of you do?”

“Don’t worry about that,” Takigawa answered immediately, talking over Mai who had opened her mouth to reply. He had tried not to be obvious about it, but Bakura was hesitating, looking across the coffee table at the four of them with a worried expression.

“…It’s just…” he started, his voice slightly strained. “I really don’t think you should be messing around with this stuff. It’s dangerous.”

“We’ll be all right–”

“You don’t understand!” Bakura suddenly shouted and everyone fell silent and stared. “You don’t know what you’re messing with. I don’t want to tell you anything. I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“You don’t have to worry, Bakura-san,” Mai said, quickly setting her tea down on the table and leaning forward, speaking earnestly. “Monk-san is a spiritualist and John is an exorcist, and Ayako is a shine maiden. They may not look it, but they’re definitely reliable. We know how to handle these things. We want to help.”

The focus temporarily on Mai, no one saw Bakura’s eyes flash dangerously before he spoke again, his voice innocent-sounding though a hint of suspicion still bled through. “What about you?” he asked Mai.

“Oh, me?” she said. “I’m nothing special, just office help, heh.”

“Office?” Bakura repeated. “What do you mean?”

“Look, it doesn’t matter,” Takigawa cut in. “We just need you to tell us about what happened at the tournament–” He had to suppress a groan as Bakura interrupted him again.

“Oh, I get it!” he exclaimed. “Were you hired by someone? Who hired you? I bet it was someone important working for the city or something, right? That’s so amazing! Can you tell me who it was?”

“We don’t know.” Takigawa resisted the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose, glad that they at least had gotten away from the subject of everyone’s ghost hunting abilities. “It was an anonymous client.”

Bakura blinked huge eyes at him. “Really? Doesn’t that seem risky? Surely you have some idea. I bet they know all about you, after all.”

“Well, Naru, er, Shibuya-san that is, he knows who it is, but he won’t tell us,” Mai explained, an edge of contempt creeping in toward the end. “It’s all secretive and done over emails.” She shrugged. “But I guess whoever it is must have a lot of money, if you know of anyone in the city like that.”

“Really?” Bakura said with interest. “That’s exciting. I guess you all must really know what you’re doing for someone like that to hire you.”

“Look, Bakura-san,” Takigawa sighed. “We really need to know anything you can tell us about what happened at the tournament.”

Bakura stared at Takigawa for a few moments, his face blank and innocent, before he answered, “I don’t know, really.”

“You don’t know,” Ayako repeated flatly.

“What do ya mean, Bakura-san?” John asked.

“I’m afraid I wasn’t feeling very well,” Bakura said, rubbing the back of his neck with a nervous little laugh.

Takigawa pushed a hand through his hair, biting down on yet another exasperated sigh. “Just… tell us whatever you can.”

 

Fifteen minutes later, the group was walking back out of the tidy apartment, Bakura waving cheerfully from the door as they headed back out onto the street.

“Well that was another fantastic waste of time,” Ayako sighed as she settled into the front passenger seat of the van. “This whole case has been nothing but Naru sending us off on wild goose chases.”

“It is kinda strange. Why _did_ Shibuya-san have us talk ta Bakura-san?” John wondered aloud.

“What do you mean?” Mai asked.

“Well, he threw out one a the other sheets, right? He said that person wouldn’t be able ta tell us anything.”

“So that means he had some reason to believe that Bakura Ryou _would_ know something about what’s been going on,” Takigawa reasoned.

“But what did he base that on?” John continued.

Ayako shrugged. “Maybe he just didn’t know one way or the other,” she suggested.

“Maybe… Masako said something to him.”

Takigawa glanced back at Mai in the rearview mirror. “What do you mean?”

Ayako turned in her seat to look at her as well and Mai laughed nervously. “Oh, well, Masako had asked me earlier if I’d felt anything strange at the docks the other day. Both Mutou-san and Bakura-san gave her sort of a bad feeling I guess.”

“So after questioning people, Naru figured out that Mutou Yuugi was the main cause of the trouble, but he wanted to check out Bakura-san too, just to be safe,” Takigawa said with an air of thinking out loud. “And he wanted to split up and do it at the same time so that if they were in on it together, one wouldn’t be able to warn the other that we were coming and lead us into an ambush or something.”

Mai let out a grumble of frustration. “Why can’t Naru ever just _say_ what he’s planning?” she complained. “Aren’t we supposed to be a team?”

“He’d probably say something like he didn’t trust us not to give away how much we knew.” Ayako folded her arms and cast a quick glance at Takigawa. His eyes were on the road, but it still seemed like he was deep in thought. “Oh well,” she sighed. “We’ll find out soon enough.”


	10. Chapter 10

September

Day 3

 

“It feels a little strange, doesn’t it?” Yuugi said quietly, staring down at the golden puzzle box within which rested the three legendary god cards. “It hasn’t been all that long since this all started but we’ve been through so much… and now you can finally find out about your past…”

The spirit of the ancient Egyptian pharaoh bound to Yuugi’s Millennium Puzzle appeared beside him. “You seem preoccupied, aibou,” he said.

“Heh, I guess I’m a little anxious,” Yuugi admitted. “You’re not?”

“I’m ready to know where I came from.”

Yuugi sighed a little, smiling. _That’s just like you, other me. I wish I had that much confidence._ He shook his head. “Anyway, I guess we’ll find out tonight.”

“Yuugi!” Sugoroku’s voice sounded from the bottom of the stairs outside Yuugi’s room. “There are some people here to see you!”

“Huh? Who could that be?”

Yuugi hurried down the stairs and into the game shop. There were three people standing at the counter – a young woman in a kimono, a tall, thin man, and a young man dressed all in black. All three of them, Yuugi realized, had been at the docks two days ago, though there seemed to be several people missing from their group now. The young man stepped forward and addressed Yuugi directly and Yuugi quickly recognized him as the person who had tried to talk to Kaiba that day.

“Sorry to trouble you, but we’d like to ask you a few questions if you wouldn’t mind,” he said. The words were polite, but there was something in his voice that reminded Yuugi very much of Kaiba, and he distantly wondered if Kaiba might also speak that way while conducting business.

“Um, sure,” he told Naru. “Let’s go upstairs so we’re not in the way.”

He led them back into the house behind the shop and up to his bedroom, ushering them in and closing the door. “Sorry, there aren’t many places to sit, but please make yourselves comfortable. I think I know what you’re here to talk about and I just thought in here there’d be a little more privacy…” He glanced at the door a little nervously, knowing it did little to block the sounds of conversation, and hoping his mother would be too busy with something else to listen in.

“That’s fine,” Naru said, but none of them moved to sit in the desk chair or on the bed. He felt awkward with all of them standing around him, especially Lin, who towered over him, but he did his best to hide it. The pharaoh appeared beside Yuugi and rested his hand firmly on Yuugi’s shoulder in silent support.

What little color there was in Masako’s face faded abruptly as the pharaoh appeared. She began to fall back, too lightheaded to stop the room from tilting.

Naru’s arm was there to catch her. He propped her up, but his eyes never left Yuugi. “Are you all right, Hara-san?” he asked dispassionately. Masako nodded, her sleeve raised to her lips as she gathered herself to stand again without Naru’s support. She opened her eyes slowly and saw the apparition – a disturbingly close copy of the boy before her, but so drastically different in presence that the two could never be mistaken, even if one were not transparent.

The spirit was ignoring Masako completely. In fact, it had hardly spared a glance for anyone in the room other than the boy who looked just like him. Yuugi, however, had noticed Masako’s momentary fainting spell and was asking if she was all right, his face and voice all concern. Masako almost didn’t hear him. She was still staring over Yuugi’s shoulder at the pharaoh who was looking mildly annoyed.

“Aibou,” the spirit said, and Masako went cold at the sound of his voice. “Don’t get too close.”

Masako wondered for a moment if Yuugi knew the spirit was there. He didn’t seem to be paying him any mind, but a moment later the spirit seemed to reply to some unheard comment, saying, “You don’t know that. Don’t forget that Marik seemed innocent enough when he was posing as Namu, and he almost killed our friends.”

This time Yuugi shot a sharp glance back at the spirit. Masako gasped, finally grasping a small piece of what was going on.

“What is it, Hara-san?” Naru said. “What are you seeing?”

“Is she all right?” Yuugi asked for the fifth time. He was beginning to feel like he was the invisible one. The three strangers seemed to be focused in on their own little world. Add to that the fact that they had come over to his house uninvited and were standing in his bedroom talking to each other like he wasn’t there… Yuugi sighed. It might have been enough to try even his patience had he not been so genuinely concerned for the fragile-looking, soft-spoken girl.

Masako was still staring over Yuugi’s shoulder at the spot where the spirit of the Puzzle stood. Yuugi glanced back, hoping he would see something else that might have caught her attention, and noticed that the pharaoh was glaring right back at her.

_Stop that!_ Yuugi insisted when he realized what was happening. _It’s rude!_

The pharaoh laughed. “Rude?” he said skeptically. He crossed his arms, still staring down at Masako. “They’re the ones being rude. This is your house. They have no right to come in here and behave as they are.”

Masako shook herself from her shock and quickly bowed, desperately fighting down the wave of dizziness the motion caused. “I’m very sorry,” she said, careful to keep her actions vague enough that they might have been directed at Yuugi alone, though they were meant for both. She straightened and turned to Naru. “I’d like to leave now,” she said weakly. “I think… we have everything we need for now.”

Naru looked over at Yuugi again and was met with a puzzled, innocent expression. “Yes, I think that should be fine.” Naru moved toward the door and Lin opened it, leading the way back down into the game shop and out to his car.

Yuugi didn’t move. He was still so baffled by the behavior of the three strangers that he wasn’t sure what to do. He turned slowly back to the pharaoh. “Could she see you?” Yuugi asked.

“Yes, I think so,” he answered. “Do you still think they couldn’t possibly be dangerous?”

Yuugi fought a shiver and went to sit on his bed, his hands unconsciously moving to wrap around the Puzzle. “We don’t know that yet,” he said quietly.

The pharaoh moved to stand beside him. “It’s better to be prepared,” he said, but Yuugi shook his head.

“We only just got through with Battle City. There can’t be some new danger already.” But his tone held a kind of hopeless desperation that revealed the lack of faith he had in his own words. The pharaoh stayed silent, staring over at the window as he heard the car outside pull away.

 

“He is possessed,” Masako said quietly from the backseat as they headed back to the hotel. “But it is not a normal possession. Mutou-san remains fully aware. Both he and the spirit are present in his body. They speak to each other.”

“That shouldn’t be possible.” Naru’s eyes were distant as he considered Masako’s assessment. “What else can you tell me about him?”

“I don’t know about Mutou-san, but the spirit…” She took a moment to collect herself, remembering the feeling that had overwhelmed her when the spirit had appeared beside Yuugi in the room. “It has an extremely powerful, dark presence. Like the echo of so many… suffering souls…”

Naru closed his eyes. “I see… It would be helpful if we could set up some equipment in his house, but I’m sure they wouldn’t allow it. Lin, can you have your shiki watch the house? That way we’ll at least know if anything strange starts happening there.”

Lin gave a short nod.


	11. Chapter 11

September

Day 4 – Early morning

 

Mokuba had to consciously refrain from yawning and rubbing his eyes as the limo flew silently down the street away from the KaibaCorp office building. He glanced at his watch then back out the window only to realize that he couldn’t remember what time it had said. Beside him, his brother sat, straight-backed, his legs and arms crossed and his head held up as though he had not been working since before dawn until now. Mokuba smiled a little at this and almost subconsciously attempted to straighten his own posture a little.

The drive back to the Kaiba mansion was short. The gates into the yard eased open without a sound, sensing the approach of an authorized vehicle, and the driver pulled right up to the front door, hurrying to let his passengers out. Kaiba walked past the man without a word, but Mokuba gave him a cheerful, if sleepy, “Thanks!” as he followed his brother to the door. He almost ran into him when Kaiba paused unexpectedly in the entranceway.

“Nii-sama?” Mokuba said, looking up at him. Kaiba didn’t answer and didn’t move for just a moment more before he stepped aside and put his hand on Mokuba’s back, guiding him forward into the house in front of him.

“It’s nothing, Mokuba,” he said, glancing back as the limo pulled away. “Let’s go.”

Mokuba was too tired to think much about it. They headed upstairs and Mokuba went into his room, but Kaiba passed his own bedroom by and stood just outside of Mokuba’s open door. He waited until he heard the sink running in Mokuba’s private bathroom before pressing the button in the KC logo on his coat collar.

“Fuguta, I want a report,” he said firmly, though he kept his voice low. He grew tenser with each answering second of silence. Finally, with a careful glance around the well-lit hallway, he backed into Mokuba’s room and closed the door, snapping the lock into place just as Mokuba was coming out of the adjoined bathroom.

“Nii-sama?” Mokuba said, watching Kaiba scan the room. “Did something happen?”

Kaiba looked down at him and put his hand on Mokuba’s head just briefly. “It’s probably nothing,” he said. He went over to the window and Mokuba went to the closet and opened the door. After a quick glance inside, he closed it again and went to the bed, taking just a moment to check underneath it. His brother was obviously looking for something – or someone – and Mokuba had long since learned to act on Kaiba’s instincts as well as his own.

Finding nothing, Mokuba sat down on the edge of his bed with a quiet sigh and glanced over his shoulder at the window. Kaiba was still standing there, but he could see nothing through the darkness outside. After a moment of deliberation, Kaiba reached over to a button set in the window frame and pushed it. Light flooded the grounds outside, wiping out every black shadow in the yard and illuminating a man in a dark suit lying face down in the grass below.

“Mokuba–” Kaiba called, already turning to locate his brother and bring him to his side. He stopped short before he could take a step. The bedroom door was open, and Bakura was standing just inside.


	12. Chapter 12

September

Day 4 – Early morning

 

“How did you get in here?” Kaiba demanded. He glanced quickly at Mokuba, who had sprung to his feet, still on the opposite side of the bed from Kaiba and much nearer to Bakura than to his brother. Kaiba forced his eyes back to Bakura.

“I’m a thief by trade,” Bakura said casually. “A locked door hardly presents a challenge to me.”

_A locked door… or the extensive security throughout this entire property…_ Kaiba thought, but he didn’t take the time to voice it. “What do you want?” he asked, letting his anger through but disguising it as annoyance. Clearly, Bakura had been looking for them, or he never would have come into what Kaiba now suspected was the only room in the house that still contained conscious people. The only real question now was _why?_

“I’m here for Mokuba, of course,” Bakura answered with a cold smile. Kaiba glanced again at his younger brother, now severely regretting the distance between them. Mokuba took a tentative step back and bumped into the nightstand, his hands going out behind him as though to steady the table or himself, but Kaiba saw him take hold of the cell phone that Mokuba had set down there earlier, keeping it carefully hidden behind his back and out of Bakura’s view. Kaiba’s eyes locked back onto Bakura instantly, but Bakura did not seem to have registered Mokuba as anything more than frightened prey. Kaiba stepped away from the window, drawing Bakura’s gaze back onto himself.

“Go to hell,” Kaiba said, allowing the well-practiced, confident smirk onto his face. “You know perfectly well I’d never let that happen.”

Kaiba tensed as Bakura reached into his pocket, but he only pulled out a Duel Monsters deck. He began shuffling it casually and Kaiba barely registered Mokuba, out of the corner of his eye, pushing a few buttons on the cell phone while Bakura’s focus was on the cards.

Bakura selected a card and held it up to show Kaiba without a word. It took Kaiba only a moment to place the image on the card with its name – Gernia, a zombie monster card. Kaiba scoffed. “What do you plan to do with that?”

Bakura’s smirk grew more sinister and something in the atmosphere changed, the air taking on a heavy, oppressive quality. Kaiba watched Bakura carefully. He could sense that something was wrong – it was a familiar feeling, but not one he could name.

“ _Come,_ ” Bakura commanded.

Kaiba didn’t have time to wonder what Bakura was trying to do. A translucent image seemed to be forming in front of the card, quickly taking on the shape of the monster depicted on it. Gernia spread its arms, tilted its head back slowly, and let out a low, rumbling growl.

“What–? How did you–?”

Kaiba’s question was cut off as the creature rushed forward, colliding with him and slamming him back against the bulletproof glass of the window. White light seemed to flash behind his eyes as his head struck the pane, and a fog of darkness began to encroach upon his vision. His legs felt as though they were vanishing from beneath him, but for some reason he wasn’t falling. There was a crushing pressure pinning his arms to his sides and something was pressing into his back.

Sudden, sharp pain rushed the encroaching darkness away and cleared his mind enough for him to realize what was happening. Gernia had taken hold of him, its enormous claws curling around to pierce his back, but the creature seemed to be fading. The claws dug deeper into Kaiba as Gernia desperately tried to keep hold of its victim, but it was suddenly insubstantial and Kaiba slipped through its grasp and collapsed as it disappeared.

“Nii-sama!” Mokuba’s fingers had gone numb on the keypad of the cell phone, the sound of his brother’s skull connecting with the glass still echoing strangely in his mind. He almost ran forward as Kaiba fell, but at the last moment, he forced himself to stop.

_We need help,_ he told himself firmly, and his fingers had life again. He carefully finished dialing the number, feeling blindly for the right buttons while he watched Bakura to be certain he had not noticed his plan. His thumb found the call button and pushed it deliberately before feeling around for the volume controls on the side of the phone, turning it all the way down so that Bakura would not hear it ringing as the call went through.

But Bakura wasn’t paying any attention to Mokuba. He had moved further into the room and was looking down at Kaiba, amusement clear in his smirk as he watched Kaiba struggling to lift himself from the floor even as the blackness returned at the edges of his vision. “You should stop trying, Kaiba,” Bakura advised him. “You’re out of your depth.”

He turned to Mokuba then and Mokuba froze, unable to keep his fear from showing any longer. _It’s just as well,_ he told himself as Bakura started toward him. _I bet this freak prefers it that way and I’ve gotta keep him distracted. It’s all part of the plan…_ But his plan had nothing to do with how his hands were shaking as Bakura stopped in front of him. Mokuba pressed himself back into the corner where the bed and nightstand met, crouching slightly in a weak attempt to put more distance between them, and heard, very faintly, a ring from his cell phone.

_He’s not answering,_ Mokuba thought, his stomach turning. _What the hell am I supposed to do now?_

Bakura was laughing, towering over him. “Don’t worry, Mokuba,” he said with a grin. “You won’t be a prisoner for too long this time, as long as you tell me everything I need to know.” He leaned forward, reaching for him, and Mokuba’s heart almost stopped as he heard another faint ring cut off, replaced by an even fainter voice.

“Get away!” Mokuba shouted, hoping to drown out any sound Bakura might catch from the phone. Bakura hesitated only a moment at the sudden shout, but it was enough. Mokuba pushed off from the bed and darted around him, just barely slipping past the hands that meant to catch him. But he didn’t head for the open door. He couldn’t.

Mokuba dashed to the window and dove to his knees next to Kaiba. “Nii-sama!” he called again, latching onto Kaiba’s arm in a desperate attempt to bring him around.

Kaiba was only vaguely conscious, but Mokuba’s voice had been pulling him back, little by little – a constant reminder of the danger his brother was in as long as he was lying there on the floor. When he felt Mokuba grab onto his arm, a little more of the fog cleared. “Mokuba…” he murmured.

Bakura stepped up to them again and Mokuba shouted, much more loudly than necessary, “Leave us alone, Bakura! What makes you think you can just break into _our_ house like this? We didn’t do anything to you!”

“But you did,” Bakura said smoothly. “You brought them here, and now you’re going to tell me everything you know about them.”

Kaiba tried to make sense of what Bakura was saying, but the pain in his head made it difficult. Still, though the words did not quite add up in his mind, he recognized the threat behind them easily. He forced himself off of the ground and onto one knee and pulled Mokuba behind him. “Back off,” he told Bakura, and his voice held steady and strong.

Bakura laughed lightly. “Get out of my way, Kaiba,” he warned.

“Why don’t you make me?” Kaiba said, the shadow of his confident smile just touching his lips.

Bakura’s smirk didn’t waver. “You’re in no shape to be challenging me,” he said, and his leg swung out to strike the side of Kaiba’s head.

Kaiba’s arms moved without conscious thought. He blocked the kick and took hold of Bakura’s ankle before standing abruptly, toppling him over. Bakura landed hard on his back and stayed down, the breath momentarily knocked from his lungs. Kaiba staggered slightly and grabbed onto one of the bedposts before his knees could give way. The pain in his head was throbbing more fiercely now and his quick movement had made him slightly nauseous. Distantly, he felt something warm trickle down his back under his shirt, but he actively ignored it.

“Mokuba,” he called immediately, holding his arm out toward his brother to call him to his side. Mokuba hurried over to him, but Bakura was already back on his feet, his dueling deck in hand. He pulled another card from it and Kaiba started toward him, unsure of how to prevent another attack like the first one, but resolved to try.

Bakura held up the new card before Kaiba could take more than a step. The air wavered and a sword appeared in midair, hovering for only a moment before shooting through Kaiba’s chest.

Kaiba froze. He felt the sword go through him, and when he looked down it was there, imbedded to the hilt in his chest, but it was translucent, and even as darkness closed in around him and he felt himself falling, he couldn’t bring himself to believe it.

Kaiba dropped to his knees in front of Bakura, his eyes open but blank and lifeless. Bakura looked him over approvingly. “The Ghost’s Sealing Sword should keep you quiet.” He slid the card back into his deck and the sword vanished. Kaiba fell forward.

“Nii-sama!” Mokuba shouted. He was only a few steps away, but even as he ran for his brother, Bakura pulled a third card and brought it to life, catching Mokuba in mid-step with the Shackles of Magic Power. Mokuba fell, carried by his own momentum, and hit the floor hard, unable to break his fall with his arms and legs tightly bound. Bakura slipped his deck back into his pocket and picked Mokuba up off of the floor, hoisting him over his shoulder as he turned for the door.

Mokuba did his best to struggle but could do little more than squirm. “Nii-sama!” he called again, staring at his brother, frighteningly pale and still on the floor, as Bakura carried Mokuba from the bedroom. With one swift tug, Bakura snapped the bedroom door shut as he left, and Mokuba’s final scream for his brother cut off as his voice broke.


	13. Chapter 13

September

Day 4 – Early morning

 

Lin jerked awake and sat up in his bed, eyes wide but slightly unfocused as he concentrated on sensing his shiki. Something was definitely wrong. “Naru!” he called sharply, already slipping free of the blankets and rushing to the window to throw back the curtains.

“What’s wrong?” Naru answered, sounding fully awake and alert, even before he’d managed to sit up.

Lin stared out at the city. Their room was on the fifteenth floor and afforded him a view that stretched far into the distance, but it didn’t matter. They were much too far away to see the game shop. He had already known that, but he couldn’t help how his eyes were pulled toward its general direction.

“Something’s happening. Mutou-san has left his house.”

Naru glanced at the clock on the nightstand. The red 1:07AM glared back. “Let’s go.”

 

Mai was not at all pleased to be woken up in the middle of the night by knocking at the hotel room door. She dragged herself off of the couch and pulled the door open without really giving it much thought. Naru was standing in the hallway, already dressed and looking particularly impatient. Mai stopped short, suddenly realizing that she was in her pajamas and that her hair may as well have been attempting to mimic the shape of Mutou Yuugi’s.

“Naru–?”

“Something happened at the game shop. We’re heading out right now. Wake Hara-san and Matsuzaki-san and meet us in front of the hotel in five minutes.”

“Five minutes? Hey, Naru!”

Mai stepped out of the room to watch him go and spotted Lin having a rushed conversation with Takigawa and John in the doorway of their room as well before he and Naru continued on toward the elevators.

“What’s going on?” Ayako muttered, rubbing her eyes as she emerged from the bedroom.

“Get dressed – and wake Masako. Something happened at the game shop.”

 

Takigawa was just pulling the van up behind Lin’s car when the girls stepped out of the lobby and into the chilled night air. The three of them climbed into the van without discussion and Takigawa followed Lin out into the city streets. They drove in silence until they passed the burnt remains of the Black Crown game store and Masako began to recognize where they were.

“We’re not going to the Kame Game Shop?” she asked and Mai looked round at her, confused.

“I guess not,” Takigawa agreed. “Lin just said to follow him. I think he’s just going to where his shiki are.”

Masako sat back, looking thoughtful, the knuckle of her forefinger just touching her lips, and Mai laughed a little to herself at how different the familiar stance seemed now. Having had to dress in a hurry, Masako had had to borrow some of Mai’s street clothes again.

The girls in the back looked up as the van slowed to a stop and they moved to peer out of the front window. They had pulled up across the street from a museum and Mai fidgeted in her seat, something she couldn’t quite remember nagging at the back of her mind. Lin shut off his headlights and engine and Takigawa quickly did the same.

“Look,” John whispered, squinting out at the huge stone stairway up to the museum doors. “Is that Mutou-san?”

As they watched, Yuugi went up to the main entrance, opened the door, and walked inside.

“What? But it’s the middle of the night. I mean, the museum’s got to be closed, right?” Mai said, her voice also hushed though there was no real reason for it.

All five of them jumped when Naru came up and rapped lightly on one of the windows. “We’re following him in. Let’s go.”

 

Yuugi had to remind himself continuously that he had been _invited_ to come to the museum after closing, but even so it just felt wrong to be there. It was so quiet and he couldn’t help but feel like he was going to step through some invisible laser at any moment and set off an alarm.

The SPR team followed silently, trying to keep as much space as possible between themselves and Yuugi as they watched him make his way slowly into the Egyptian exhibit where he seemed to become a little surer of where he was going. He moved past each exhibit without giving any of them a second look and headed straight for a doorway marked “off limits.”

Mai gasped, her dream rushing back to her all at once, and Yuugi froze before turning quickly to look around the exhibit room.

“Ishtar-san?” he called out.

Naru made a quick decision and stepped out with hardly any pause and the SPR team followed almost as quickly. Yuugi hesitated, watching them file into the exhibit to form a small crowd in front of him.

“What are you all… doing here?”

“We followed you,” Naru stated. Yuugi immediately took a step back from them and Takigawa dropped his forehead lightly into his palm.

“Naru-chan…”

“Why?” Yuugi asked.

“We only want to help you,” Mai said quickly, before Naru could answer.

“Help me?” Yuugi repeated, genuine confusion on his face as he considered the seven of them.

The pharaoh appeared beside him, arms crossed and glaring at the group. “Don’t trust them,” he warned.

Masako made a sudden, blind grab for whoever was closest and latched onto Mai’s arm.

“Masako?” Mai looked down at her. She was hunched, fine tremors running through her, and her eyes were locked on a spot just left of Yuugi.

“I-It’s–”

“You can hear me, can’t you,” the pharaoh said. “What is it you want with Yuugi?”

Masako took a few calming breaths and straightened up. Mai could no longer feel her trembling, though she still clung to Mai’s arm. “It wants to know what we want…” she said softly.

“ _It?_ ” the spirit shot back at her.

“Other me…” Yuugi mumbled quietly, wanting to placate him though he felt the offense as well.

“John,” Naru said quietly while they were talking. “I’d like you to perform an exorcism.”

John glanced over at him. “Are ya sure?” he murmured.

Naru did not reply. He was also staring at Yuugi and after the long pause of silence, John nodded slightly and moved forward.

Yuugi’s attention was quickly drawn to him. “Wh-What are you doing?” he said, taking another step back toward the darkened doorway. John did not answer. He had drawn a small vial out of his pocket and began his invocation in a soft, steady voice.

“In the beginning there was the Word…”

Water sprinkled over Yuugi and he felt a strange pulse shake him as John continued the recitation. His breath caught and he doubled over, clutching his chest.

“Aibou!” The pharaoh reached toward Yuugi, but Yuugi didn’t notice. In a panic, he turned and fled through the doorway behind him and down a flight of stairs into the pitch dark room below. As Masako watched, the spirit vanished.

“Let’s go,” Naru said, already striding forward through the doorway. John and the others hurried after him but it was too dark to see anything by the time they’d reached the bottom of the stairs. The six of them hesitated and John tentatively called out for Naru but he received no answer. Then, without warning, the room was flooded with light. Blinking as their eyes adjusted, the group looked around, quickly spotting Naru who still had his hand on the control panel for the lights.

“Monk-san, keep an eye on the stairs so he doesn’t slip past us,” he instructed. “Everyone else, start looking around. There aren’t many places he could be.”

Masako, Ayako, and Mai all moved forward, through another doorway into a large, empty area where massive stone tablets were displayed behind glass on the wall. Mai gasped.

“Mai? What is it?” Ayako asked. Mai pointed to the farthest tablet.

“I had a dream about this place. Look at that carving. It looks like Mutou-san.”

“Mutou-san, please wait!”

The girls turned at the sound of John’s voice and saw Yuugi running through the doorway into the room where they stood.

“Lin!” Naru called. Lin moved immediately and caught Yuugi before he could get very far, restraining him easily. John and Takigawa hurried into the room and John readied the vial of holy water again, but with a swell of light from the golden Puzzle around Yuugi’s neck, the pharaoh took over and threw a sharp, scarlet-tinted glare back at Lin. His struggles became stronger and more focused and Lin tightened his hold on the young man’s arms.

“Tell me what you want with Yuugi,” the pharaoh demanded.

“John,” Naru said sharply. “Do it.”

John nodded and raised the vial again, splashing water over both the pharaoh and Lin. Closing his eyes, he began the exorcism again.

The strange pulse returned and for a moment the pharaoh’s struggles stopped. He clenched his teeth as a chilling numbness twisted through him, but then, with a sudden wrenching of his soul, he felt his connection with Yuugi’s body slip, and he went limp in Lin’s grasp.

_What… What happened?_ the spirit thought. _I’m still here… but I can’t move._ He tried again, mustering all of his effort, and the Puzzle flickered weakly.

“Lin,” Naru said, his voice calm again as he watched the exorcism with a critical eye. “Move away from him.”

Lin nodded and carefully lowered the unresisting body to the floor before stepping away. The Puzzle, resting on the floor beside him, gave another stuttering flash as Yuugi resumed control. John continued his prayer as Yuugi strained to drag his limbs under himself and rise to his hands and knees. He looked up at the seven surrounding him with unfocused eyes. “Stop…” he said. “Please…” But his voice was too weak to be heard.

“ _In principio._ ” John’s hand cut through the air over Yuugi with a firm finality and Yuugi’s eyes went dull. He collapsed onto the floor, unconscious though his eyes remained half-lidded in an eerie, vacant stare.

John opened his eyes slowly, feeling uneasy after such a strange exorcism. He’d exorcised reluctant spirits before, but it had never felt like this. He looked down at Yuugi and gasped, taking just one shaky step backward. If he had moved any more than that, he thought his legs would fold under him.

The boy on the floor was as still and silent as death.


	14. Chapter 14

September

Day 4 – Early morning

 

When Yuugi came to, he was in his soul room. At least, he was reasonably certain that was where he was. Bricks had been torn from the walls and ceiling and even pulled up out of the floor. The toys and games that normally littered the room now dotted the rubble, many of them in pieces as well.

It only took him a moment to shake himself from the shock of the sight. “Other me…” He lifted himself and only then realized that he had also been covered in broken bricks. He felt vaguely sore, but it hardly slowed him down as he started for the door, climbing awkwardly over the shifting rubble on his hands and feet. When he reached it he pulled hard on the handle, but the thick metal was warped and the rubble slipping under his feet made it difficult to apply any real force. He turned his attention to the floor again and began tossing pieces of debris aside, trying to clear a path for him to stand and that the door could open into. The floor itself was badly broken, cracks spreading out from a point that seemed to originate outside of his room. He kept digging.

When he finally had enough space to plant both of his feet, he stood and grasped the handle again and pulled with all his strength. The door groaned. It didn’t move. He tried again, tugging with his full weight, one foot planted on the wall beside the frame so that if the door had opened he would have tumbled back into the rubble, but still it did not give. He released the handle, slightly out of breath for the effort, and laid his forehead against the metal.

“I can’t get out…”

 

For a few seconds, no one in the museum moved. Then John tore his eyes away from Yuugi and looked to Naru. Shock and fear had drained the color from John’s face and his eyes were pleading for help.

“What happened?” Takigawa demanded, his voice cutting through the ringing silence. “Why did you tell John to exorcise him? I thought you knew what was going on here.”

Naru ignored him, watching Lin who was moving cautiously toward Yuugi. He knelt down next to him and checked for a pulse. “It’s all right. He’s still alive,” Lin said.

“All right? Nothing about this is all right!” Mai exclaimed. “What did we do to him?!”

“John,” Naru said firmly, startling him. “Do you know if the exorcism was successful?”

John’s eyes moved back to Yuugi again but he couldn’t bear to look at him for long. “I don’t know. It didn’t… feel right.”

“Hara-san,” Naru said, and he didn’t have to continue for her to know what he was about to ask. She edged closer to Yuugi, focusing in on the golden Puzzle, and was quiet for a few moments before a slight chill ran through her.

“It’s faint,” she said, still staring down at him. “But the spirit is still th–”

A phone rang and everyone’s eyes were pulled helplessly to the source of the sound. For several seconds, no one moved. Then Naru stepped forward and knelt by Yuugi to pull the ringing cell phone from the boy’s pocket. His eyes skimmed over the number on the display as his thumb found the answer key.

“Kaiba-san–?”

He was cut off by a shout from the other end. _“Get away!”_

“Kaiba-san, what’s going on?” Naru asked, and everyone in the museum tensed at the urgency in his voice. He waited but there was no answer until he heard, as if from a distance, Mokuba calling out for his brother. Naru didn’t bother to say anything more. It was obvious that Mokuba had moved away from the phone and would not be able to hear him, so he held up a hand to silence the questions building in the other SPR members and listened intently for any more sounds.

_“Leave us alone, Bakura! What makes you think you can just break into_ our _house like this? We didn’t do anything to you!”_

Naru swore under his breath. “Lin!” he said sharply. They were both on their feet and running for the stairs a second later.

“Stay with Mutou-san,” Lin called back to the others, and they all stared after them as Lin and Naru vanished into the stairwell.

A voice Naru didn’t recognize came through the phone. _“But you did. You brought them here, and now you’re going to tell me everything you know about them.”_

Naru’s jaw tightened. “Lin, we have to get to the Kaiba mansion,” he said between breaths as they sprinted through the exhibits and out the front entrance of the museum. Lin only nodded. They climbed into Lin’s car and Naru gave him a few quick directions as he heard Kaiba’s voice, fierce though distant. “ _Back off.”_ Bakura’s laughter carried through the phone as Lin took off toward the mansion with a roar from the engine at the abrupt acceleration.

_“Get out of my way, Kaiba.”_

_“Why don’t you make me?”_

“Dammit, Kaiba,” Naru muttered. “Lin, hurry.”

_“You’re in no shape to be challenging me.”_

There were several seconds of silence, and very faintly Naru heard Kaiba say Mokuba’s name. More silence followed and Naru was about to try calling out to the Kaiba brothers when Bakura’s voice came through again. Calm. Satisfied.

_“The Ghost’s Sealing Sword should keep you quiet.”_

“What–?”

_“Nii-sama!”_

Mokuba’s shout was strained and desperate. It came once again, more distant this time, then once more before being cut off with the slamming of a door. Naru continued to listen but the silence dragged on and he eventually hung up.

“It sounds like the phone got left behind,” he told Lin. “They might still be in the house, but I doubt it.”

“What should we do?” Lin asked, his eyes fixed on the road as they sped through the empty streets.

“We’ll go to the mansion anyway,” Naru instructed. “We’ll have to start there.”


	15. Chapter 15

September

Day 4 – Early morning

 

Yuugi had tried calling out to the pharaoh, but he was almost afraid to pound on the door for fear that he would jam it further, and his shouts received no reply. “I have to get out of here somehow,” he muttered, scanning the metal door again. “It figures… The whole room’s falling apart, but the door won’t… Wait, that’s it!” Yuugi knelt down and cleared more rubble away then moved to inspect the wall beside the door. Large chunks were already missing from it, and the remaining bricks looked loose and broken. “It’s worth a shot.” He began carefully wiggling one of the bricks and gradually pried it free from the wall. It felt a little strange, tearing his own soul room apart, but he dropped the brick into the ruins around him and started on another. “I have to get out,” he told himself again. “I have to find the other me.”

It didn’t take Yuugi long to expand the area of missing brick to a size that would allow for him to climb through, but there was another layer of brick underneath that had no pieces missing, and no way for him to grab hold of any to pull them out. He pushed on the exposed wall experimentally, not knowing how many layers there might be but reasoning that the wall couldn’t be much thicker than the door and hoping that this layer was the last.

At first his efforts yielded nothing, but he kept testing different spots until one brick shifted slightly under his fingers. He pushed hard on that one brick and after several seconds of slow, scraping movement the brick fell out of the wall and into the hallway on the other side. “Yes!” Yuugi shouted. He immediately set to work expanding the hole and was soon able to see clearly out into the hallway between his and the pharaoh’s rooms. It seemed darker than normal, and the floor was so badly cracked that it looked like an intricate mosaic, but Yuugi was relieved to see that the walls and door of the pharaoh’s room looked solid and whole. “Maybe he’s all right… Or maybe he’s trapped in there like I was…” Yuugi shook his head. “That doesn’t make any sense. If I’m here, he should be in control right now…” He had meant the thought to be encouraging, but it wasn’t sitting right with him. He quickly pulled down more of his wall and climbed through as soon as he was sure he would fit.

Wasting no time, he ran to the pharaoh’s door. A faint light illuminated it in a soft flash the moment his fingertips touched the handle, but in the next moment, the floor buckled and collapsed into empty blackness beneath his feet. Yuugi’s hand had just barely closed on the handle before the floor vanished, and he clung to it now with both hands to keep from falling, even as the door swung open, out over the dark void.

The pharaoh jerked to a halt in the doorway, barely stopping himself from stepping out into nothing. For a moment, he was frozen, shocked at the chasm that now stood between the rooms, but then he noticed Yuugi hanging from the door.

“Aibou!”

“Other me!” Yuugi responded, relief filling him as quickly as the fear had when the floor had dropped out from beneath him. The pharaoh leaned out of his room carefully and grabbed the inside handle, pulling the door partially closed and holding it there. His other hand reached out to Yuugi.

“Take my hand,” he said, trying deliberately to sound confident and reassuring. Yuugi hesitated only a moment then quickly released the handle with one hand to grab the pharaoh’s.

“Good,” the pharaoh said, not showing his relief. “I’m going to pull the door closer. Try to get your foot up onto the floor.”

“Okay,” Yuugi agreed, his voice slightly strained. The pharaoh braced himself and eased the door further shut, at the same time trying his best to help pull Yuugi up. Once Yuugi had gotten a foothold on the floor inside the room, he was able to take on his own weight again and squeezed through the gap between the door and the wall, but he overbalanced and fell into the room, knocking the pharaoh over and landing on top of him.

“Aibou!” For just a moment when they fell, the pharaoh panicked, thinking he had let go of Yuugi’s hand and fallen back on his own, leaving Yuugi to tumble into the darkness, but he quickly realized this was not the case. He propped himself up on an elbow and stared down at Yuugi who was clinging to him, still catching his breath.

“Are you all right?” he asked. Yuugi nodded vigorously.

“Yeah, sorry,” he said, carefully removing himself from on top of the pharaoh. “Are you okay?”

“Yes.”

They both stood and went to the door, which had swung slowly open again to hang over the empty space, and looked out at the damage.

“Your room…” the pharaoh said unable to hide his shock. He could see some of the rubble through the jagged hole Yuugi had climbed through, and Yuugi saw now that the walls on this side were also broken and missing bricks in some places. “What happened?” He looked down at Yuugi. He was covered in brick dust, but seemed to be mostly unharmed.

“I don’t know,” Yuugi answered. “It was like that when I woke up. I… don’t really remember how I got here… I mean I don’t know what was happening when I…”

“It’s all right,” the pharaoh said, putting his hand on Yuugi’s shoulder. “We’ll figure this out.” He reached over the chasm again and pulled his door firmly closed, but he kept his hand on the handle, staring down at it with a slightly vacant look as though he were deep in thought.

“Other me…?” Yuugi said.

The pharaoh looked up. “Sorry.” He rested his hand gently on Yuugi’s back and guided him a few steps away from the door. “Wait here.”

At first Yuugi wasn’t sure what he meant, but he recognized the serious look on the pharaoh’s face and gave him a short nod of agreement. Light flared from the Puzzles around each of their necks and when it faded, the pharaoh was gone.

 

“Okay,” Takigawa said, shaking the group in the museum out of the silent confusion Naru and Lin had left them in. “I know Lin said to stay with Mutou-san, but I don’t think we should stay _here._ ”

“You… You think we should move him?” Mai asked in a small voice.

“It might be dangerous to drive anywhere with him,” Ayako said. “If he wakes up we could be in trouble.”

“We should still take him out to the van. Tie him up with some cable or something and wait for Naru…”

The pharaoh became aware of the voices around him as his soul settled into place to resume control of Yuugi’s body but he tuned them out, keeping his eyes closed as he checked his physical condition. Everything felt normal again, the smothering weight and frightening sense of drowning he experienced during the exorcism now completely gone, but he still took care to test this, tensing subtly and twitching his fingers just enough to be sure that he could without alerting the five SPR members to the fact that he was conscious. When he was almost certain he would be able to move normally, he let go of the rage he had been restraining and felt it flood through him, drawing out the dark power of the Puzzle around his neck.

Masako gasped and took a few quick, stumbling steps back until she bumped into the wall behind her. Fingers trembling at her lips, she sank down to the floor and stared as the pharaoh began to stand.

“Masako!” Mai managed to hurry to her side before the overwhelming sense of darkness and death overtook her as well and she fell beside Masako, shuddering and desperately trying to blink away the image of the golden eye that had seeped into her mind again. Takigawa and Ayako immediately closed in between them and the spirit, but John staggered back.

“Just stay back, John,” Ayako said as Takigawa pulled out a string of beads and began chanting. “Just take care of Mai and Masako, all right?”

John nodded shakily and began to take careful steps back toward the girls by the wall, never taking his eyes from the spirit.

The pharaoh had gotten to his feet and a strong wind from nowhere seemed to be blowing all around him. The Millennium Symbol flickered on his forehead and his eyes seemed to take on a red glint as he glared past Ayako and Takigawa at John. It would be difficult to pull the priest into a game without dragging the others in too, but he wasn’t sure he cared. Given the chance, they might have tried to hurt Yuugi as well. Still, he didn’t have much to work with. It would be foolish to use the god cards here in the presence of the tablet under these circumstances, but he had the rest of his deck… He reached slowly for the card holster at his side, his normally confident smirk now edging toward something sinister, but before he could open the case he heard soft footsteps hurrying down the stairs.

“Pharaoh!” Isis called out, rushing into the room but coming to an abrupt stop at the sight of the churning shadows lapping at the pharaoh’s feet. Her shock was stamped out by something close to anger as she processed the situation – the two girls on the floor by the wall, the young man kneeling beside them, and the two standing between them and the pharaoh, one of whom was chanting something that seemed to be holding the encroaching shadows at bay.

“What is going on here?” she demanded. The pharaoh hesitated, tearing his eyes away from John to look over at Isis. She was glaring back at him. “Stop this. Right now,” she said softly, though her eyes remained hard.

The spirit suddenly felt cold. He closed his eyes, pulling his anger back with sudden and sharp restraint, and the shadows quickly faded along with the symbol on his forehead and the wind that had surrounded him. And once all of this was gone, Takigawa’s spell struck him with full force. The pharaoh gasped and dropped to one knee as he felt something cut through him, and for one terrifying moment he thought he’d actually been stabbed – that he’d taken Yuugi’s body and gotten him killed because he couldn’t manage his own anger – but when he looked down at his chest there was no blood, no mark at all.

“Stop!” Isis shot at Takigawa, moving between him and the pharaoh.

Takigawa had already lowered the beads and fallen silent. He had only meant to hold back the spirit’s assault, but it had stopped too suddenly. “Sorry,” he said. “That was close.”

Isis eyed him for a moment before turning and kneeling beside the pharaoh. “Are you all right?” she asked, though her voice seemed strangely tight.

“Yes,” he answered, “Thank y–”

“What happened to Mutou-san?” Isis suddenly demanded.

The pharaoh was taken aback by the tone of accusation and stumbled slightly over his answer. “He’s all right–” _He’s not all right. He never would have let me go so far. He would have stopped me sooner. Why can’t I hear him?_ He was a second away from diving back into his soul room to find out when Isis spoke again, grabbing his shoulder tightly and forcing his attention back onto her.

“After everything that happened with my brother…” she started, and there was warning under her words. “I trusted my brother to you and you helped him break free of the shadows and I am grateful… but I won’t stand by and watch you become the same kind of threat that he became.”

“I won’t,” the pharaoh answered firmly.

A sardonic smile twisted Isis’ lips and the spirit tried not to think about all of the horrors she’d witnessed in her life because she’d been born a tomb-keeper. _His_ tomb-keeper. “I’m not saying it’s a choice. Where is Mutou-san?” she asked, changing the subject and allowing her face and voice to soften again. The pharaoh eyed her warily for a moment before closing his eyes and reaching for his soul room.

Yuugi was there, sitting on the floor with his back to the door. His knees were drawn up to his chest with his arms folded over them and his head down so that the spirit could not see his face.

“Aibou…?” He moved closer and put his hand on Yuugi’s shoulder. Yuugi raised his head, but his eyes were vague – strangely blank in a way that frightened the pharaoh – before he blinked a few times and looked up at him.

“Other me? What…?”

“Are you all right?” the pharaoh asked, looking Yuugi over nervously.

“Yeah, of course,” Yuugi answered. The pharaoh was staring at him, concern and skepticism warring for position on his face. “I, uh, I guess I zoned out for a second, huh?” he added with a sheepish smile. He stood and the pharaoh moved with him, hovering like Yuugi might collapse at any moment. “Really, I’m fine. I promise,” Yuugi insisted.

“I think Isis wants to talk to you,” the pharaoh said, a little reluctantly. “Do you want to take over?”

“Ishtar-san?” Yuugi stared off into the distance for a moment but the pharaoh kept himself calm, knowing that this time Yuugi was only taking a moment to look around the museum.

_Still, the fact that he didn’t already know…_

“…Yeah, okay,” Yuugi answered. He wasn’t thrilled to face the strangers again, but it wouldn’t be as bad if Isis was there, too.

The pharaoh could sense Yuugi about to take control and asked again, “Are you sure you’re all right?”

Yuugi looked at him with a bright smile. “Yep, don’t worry.”


	16. Chapter 16

September

Day 4 – Early morning

 

Naru and Lin were slightly surprised to see the mansion lit up in the night with harsh white floodlights when they came up the drive, but the building and yard were surrounded by walls, and the gates in the driveway were closed. Lin parked and he and Naru got out to look for a way around this problem, but it quickly became a nonissue when the gates opened easily to Naru’s push.

“I thought so,” Naru muttered, walking into the yard. “I’m guessing all the locks have already been taken care of.”

As they walked up to the house, they saw the security guards all lying in the grass, but for the sake of time they left them there, though they called for an ambulance before entering the house. After a quick and cautious search of the first floor, they headed upstairs.

They only had to check a few rooms before they found what they were looking for. The bedroom was unusually bright, the lights already on and the curtains open, letting in the extra glare of the floodlights outside. Kaiba was lying on the floor at the foot of the bed with traces of blood around several holes torn through the back of his white coat. Lin knelt beside him and pressed his fingers gently to the side of Kaiba’s neck.

“He’s alive.”

“I heard Bakura mention something called ‘The Ghost’s Sealing Sword.’” Naru said absently. He was moving about the room, taking everything in, his fingers occasionally reaching out to lightly touch pieces of furniture. When he came upon the cell phone on the nightstand, he picked it up and looked at it thoughtfully.

Lin closed his eyes and moved his hand lightly across Kaiba’s back until he felt the disturbance where the sword had pierced him. He couldn’t help but grimace at the sensation of twisted qi, bound almost to the point of breaking and so badly unbalanced that Lin visibly shivered at the feeling.

“Lin…?” Naru said cautiously, glancing over at him. For one long minute, Lin did not move, but when he finally pulled his hand away from Kaiba and sat back on his heels, he breathed out a long, slow, calming breath.

“I don’t know what could have caused this,” Lin murmured. “But I did what I could for him.”

Naru nodded. “We might have to leave him to the paramedics for now. I’m more concerned about what Bakura might do to the younger Kaiba if we don’t find him first.”

Sudden movement from the young man on the floor put an abrupt end to their conversation. When Kaiba woke, he could only compare the feeling to being held in a dark room only to be shoved out into white-hot sunlight without warning. His whole body tensed and he almost gasped at the pain that washed through him as his consciousness returned, but instead he just tightened his hand into a fist and forced his eyes to open. He quickly acknowledged that he was still on the floor in Mokuba’s room and struggled to his hands and knees. The room seemed to tip slightly as a wave of vertigo pushed through the pounding ache in his head, but he steadied himself, keeping one hand and one knee on the floor as he crouched beside the bed.

“Mokuba…”

As his senses grudgingly cleared, he suddenly became aware of someone kneeling beside him and jerked his head up to come face to face with Lin. “What the hell are you doing here?” he grated, already looking around at the rest of the room. He half expected to see Yuugi, but Naru was the only other one there.

Naru crossed his arms, Mokuba’s cell phone still clutched in one hand. “That’s some thank you,” he said.

Kaiba grabbed onto the bed, using it to drag himself to his feet. “Where’s Mokuba?”

“How should we know?” Naru answered curtly.

The scowl on Kaiba’s face deepened as he pushed away from the bed and went to the door.

“The ambulances should be here by now. You won’t get past them easily looking like that.”

Kaiba paused, clutching the doorjamb, and glared back at Naru. Then, after slow consideration, he eased off his coat and dropped it next to the door just inside the room. His clothes underneath were all black, and though the back of his shirt also bore puncture holes and was sticking to him with blood, it was still less obvious than the bloodied holes in the back of his white coat. “That thief made a mess of things,” he said, starting to leave again. “They should be too busy to bother with someone who’s up and walking around.” That, and he didn’t intend to make himself obvious. There was more than one way to leave the mansion, but that was information Naru and Lin did not need to be made aware of.

“Do you know where to go?”

Kaiba turned sharply, anger rising in him at the continued delay and at Naru’s skeptical tone, but he paused when Naru continued.

“It’s probably a small bookstore,” he said, his eyes blank with distance and his hand tense around Mokuba’s phone. “In a stockroom. He hasn’t been hurt, but he can’t move.”

Kaiba crossed the room in three long strides and grabbed Naru by the front of his shirt. Lin was beside them in a matter of seconds, gripping Kaiba’s wrist in warning and watching him carefully. Kaiba ignored him. “Why the hell should I trust you?” he demanded of Naru. “The only way you could know any of that is if you’re working with the kid that took my brother.”

“I said he wasn’t hurt, but that doesn’t mean he won’t be,” Naru replied. “Do you have time to waste arguing? You know it wouldn’t make sense for him to stay here – there are too many people to keep track of and if any of them woke up it would cause him trouble – so he’s not still on the property, but he can’t have gone far in such a short amount of time while carrying a hostage.”

Kaiba’s eyes flicked to the clock on the nightstand behind Naru, checking to see that not much time had passed since he and Mokuba had arrived at the mansion. His eyes immediately locked back on Naru as he continued. “I suggest if you know of any bookstores nearby that you go and check. If I’m wrong, you can go back to your original plan… whatever that might have been.” Naru smirked, earning an ice-cold glare, but Kaiba released him and Lin backed down as well. Without a word, Kaiba turned and stalked off into the hall.

“…Should we really let him go like that?” Lin said quietly.

Naru shrugged. “He’s not stupid. He knows what he can handle.” He slipped Mokuba’s phone into his pocket and pulled out his own instead, flipping it open to call Takigawa.


	17. Chapter 17

September

Day 4 – Early morning

 

Yuugi opened his eyes to find himself crouched on the floor with Isis kneeling beside him. “Mutou-san, are you all right?” she asked.

Yuugi laughed a little as he stood. “Yeah, of course I am,” he answered. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

Isis gave him a peculiar look but did not answer. Instead, she turned to Takigawa and Ayako again. “Who are you? What are you doing here?”

“Uh…” Takigawa looked helplessly from Ayako to Isis who had folded her arms in front of her with the distinct look of someone who had had enough of lies, even before he could start. Then Takigawa’s phone started to ring and everyone in the room jumped a little.

“I can’t believe you snuck into a museum without at least putting your phone on silent,” Ayako scoffed.

“Snuck in,” Isis said flatly.

“Geez, Ayako,” Takigawa protested but Ayako waved him off.

“Naru already told the kid that we were following him; there’s no point denying that now.”

Takigawa pulled his phone from his pocket and jabbed the answer button a little harder than was strictly necessary before putting it to his ear. “Naru?” he said.

“Bakura Ryou has kidnapped the younger Kaiba brother,” Naru said without preamble.

“What? Kidnapped?”

All around the room, heads jerked up and over at Takigawa. Feeling awkward, he hurried to switch the phone to speaker and held it slightly away from himself. Masako, Mai, and John stood and edged closer.

“Yes, we were too far away to catch him but we found Kaiba Seto. He’s injured but he’s already left to go after them.”

“Wait, what?” Yuugi said, forgetting any remaining fear and hurrying closer to Takigawa. “What happened?” Concern and urgency pitched his voice a little higher and he stared at the phone in Takigawa’s hand, waiting for an explanation, his breath caught in his chest.

There was a pause, then Naru answered, “Bakura Ryou has kidnapped Kaiba Mokuba and taken him to a bookstore near the Kaiba estate, but that’s all we know.”

Yuugi went cold. “Bakura-kun…” The Ring had gone missing after Battle City. He knew it was too much to hope that it had just disappeared, but it still stung to have the fact that it was back with Bakura pretty much confirmed. “We have to stop him,” Yuugi concluded, somewhat reluctantly. He was speaking to the spirit of the Puzzle, but Ayako responded.

“No way. You are _not_ coming with us.”

“You said a bookstore near Kaiba-kun’s house?” Yuugi continued, ignoring her objection. “Is it Firefly Books?”

“You know where it is?” Naru asked.

“Yeah, but it’s too far to walk–”

“Monk-san, work with Mutou-san for now and head over to the bookstore.”

“What?” Ayako snapped. “Are you crazy? I’m not getting into a car with this kid; he just tried to attack us!”

“Attack you?” Yuugi said. In the back of his mind, he thought he felt something like shame flickering around the spirit’s presence.

_Aibou… I’m sorry. I didn’t even realize what I–_

_It’s okay,_ Yuugi interrupted. Hearing that the spirit had tried to attack someone came as a shock, but he could feel the pharaoh’s emotions swirling together, an almost overwhelming mix of guilt, protectiveness, and fear. It wasn’t like the time on top of Pegasus’ castle, when they’d barely known each other – when they hadn’t understood each other at all. Their connection was deep now, and Yuugi could have no doubt at all that the spirit’s regret was genuine and that his intentions were still good. _We can talk about it later if you want. Right now, Mokuba-kun needs us._

The pharaoh was slightly surprised when he felt Yuugi gently guiding him to take control, and Yuugi felt the deep gratitude the spirit had for his continued trust. Light flared from the Puzzle briefly and the pharaoh took over again.

“I’m sorry,” he said again, this time to the group of ghost hunters. “I only wanted to protect my partner, but I should not have gone as far as I did. It won’t happen again.”

Ayako scoffed, her arms crossed in front of her, but Naru’s voice came through the phone again. “We don’t have time to argue over this. You don’t have to trust him, just get to the bookstore. Mutou-san, can you tell me the address?”

There was a short pause before the pharaoh shook his head. “We don’t know the address, just where it is.”

“That’s fine. We have the name of it now; we’ll manage. Lin and I will meet you there. Get going.” The line went dead and Takigawa turned off the phone with a sigh.

“Naru-bou’s right,” he said. “We shouldn’t waste time as long as the kid’s in trouble. Let’s go.”

The three girls and John all gave the pharaoh a wide berth as they slowly headed for the stairs, but Takigawa made a point to stick close by him. Naru was right, they didn’t have to trust him, and none of them were about to.

The pharaoh moved with them, easily sensing their distrust which only increased his own. He remained tense and alert, hoping that Yuugi’s persistent reassurance that they were all on the same side would turn out to be true, but not putting much stock in the notion.

“Pharaoh,” Isis said, and he paused and turned, sensing more than seeing Takigawa stop as well as the others went on ahead. “…Be careful,” she said. The pharaoh nodded, fully confident again, and they continued out of the museum and into the chilled night.

Takigawa led him across the street to the equipment van. “Why does she call you pharaoh?” he asked as he unlocked the doors and directed the spirit to the front passenger seat while the others climbed into the back.

After a few moments of consideration, the pharaoh answered, “My name is lost.”

“Hell of a thing to go by instead,” Ayako muttered under her breath.

The spirit’s eyes narrowed. “I _was_ a pharaoh. That’s really all I know… The tomb-keepers have been waiting for my return for thousands of years. It’s all they know me by.” He could feel a warm sense of support from Yuugi and allowed the feeling to wrap around him, giving him comfort while he pretended not to notice the skeptical glances being traded via rearview mirror between Ayako and Takigawa. The van started up with a quiet rumble.

“Well,” Takigawa said. “Lead the way.”


	18. Chapter 18

September

Day 4 – Early morning

A black Ferrari pulled silently up to the curb, down the street and around the corner from Firefly Books. Kaiba got out slowly, using the roof of the car to pull himself up, and eased the door closed before heading down the street toward the bookstore on foot. The storefront was almost entirely covered in large display windows with only a few small posters blocking the view into the building and he stopped short of walking in front of them. Standing by the corner of the building, he peered into the dark store, but could not see much around the tall book shelves.

Kaiba glanced over his shoulder. There was a narrow walkway between Firefly Books and the building beside it, and there was a side door halfway down that was surely only for employees. Opting for the choice with no windows which might allow someone inside to watch him without his knowing, Kaiba headed down the walkway and examined the door. The lock did not appear to have been tampered with in any way, but when he tried the handle, the door pushed open easily as if it had never been locked in the first place.

_I shouldn’t be surprised,_ he thought as he slipped into the building. _With his skills, a lock like that must look like a joke to him._ He looked around the dark shop for any signs of movement before easing the door shut behind him and moving deeper inside. There were voices coming from the back and he edged closer, keeping near the shelves. A light was on behind the half open door of what looked like a stockroom and he paused outside of it, listening.

“You can stop denying it.” Bakura’s calm voice came clearly from inside the room. “Even with most of them in the dark about their ‘client,’ they told me enough. A mystery client with enough money to hire them and enough sense to maintain as much secrecy as possible… or should I say enough _motivation_ to keep it secret. Your precious brother doesn’t know, does he?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Mokuba’s voice answered insistently, emphasizing each word.

Kaiba edged closer to the door, trying to see further in, but it was pointless. They were too far inside.

“Maybe I shouldn’t have sealed Kaiba’s soul,” Bakura said from somewhere behind the open door. “Letting him suffer in front of you might have been better motivation… but it’s too late now.”

Kaiba could almost hear the grin coloring Bakura’s words before Mokuba shouted, “What did you do to Nii-sama?!” He pushed the door aside and walked into the room. Fortunately the door moved silently, because when he entered he still did not see Bakura or Mokuba. From their voices, he guessed they were close by, somewhere off to his right, but the room had multiple rows of shelving units all packed full with boxes and stacked books. Stealth was still an option.

He picked his way carefully around the books and boxes that also covered the floor, making slow progress to the other side of the room, checking the aisles between each of the shelves before moving out in front of them, and as he crept closer, he listened.

“Would you like me to show you?” Bakura was saying in answer to Mokuba’s question. Kaiba froze. Then Bakura laughed, the sound soft and dark. “I can’t do to you what I did to him – I still need you, after all – but I can let you have an experience of your own.” Kaiba flinched at the sudden swell of light by the far wall. Then there was silence, and that strange sense of wrongness he could not identify back at the mansion hung in the air once again. He pressed forward, fairly certain now that they were by the wall rather than between any of the shelves, but he stopped himself by the last unit, reminding himself that he wouldn’t have any better luck against whatever it was Bakura could do to him than he had the first time around. He had to stay hidden until the right moment…

 

Mokuba tensed, curling in on himself slightly where he lay on the floor, his arms and legs still bound with spiraling green energy while the ghost of Dark Sanctuary sank into him, clutching his soul and twisting his mind with hallucinations.

“Tell me what I want to know,” Bakura instructed again. “If you do, I’ll release you _and_ your precious brother. Now, isn’t that generous?”

Mokuba twitched slightly, his eyes open but blind to the real world, Bakura’s words barely reaching him through the shadows. He did not answer. Irritated, Bakura bent forward, grabbing Mokuba’s shirt and jerking him up, and at that moment, Kaiba dashed around the corner.

Bakura saw him coming. He dropped Mokuba immediately and raised his arm as if to defend, but he was still half turning and not at all braced for the impact when Kaiba slammed into him with his shoulder. Bakura lost his footing and hit the wall with full force, his head connecting solidly with the concrete bricks of the storeroom.

Kaiba let him crumple to the floor where he lay still. For a few seconds, Kaiba did not move, watching Bakura carefully for any signs of consciousness, his full focus devoted to the task so that his mind would be too busy to register the pain in his back and head. When he was sure Bakura would not be getting up again anytime soon, he pulled his attention over to Mokuba. The bonds holding him had disappeared when Bakura fell, but the boy hadn’t moved.

Kaiba stepped around Bakura and dropped to one knee next to his brother. “Mokuba,” he said gently, helping him to sit up against the wall. His eyes hadn’t quite focused on Kaiba yet, but he recognized the voice.

“Nii-sama…?” Mokuba muttered distantly. “You’re okay…?”

“Yeah.” Kaiba watched the muddled confusion clear from Mokuba’s eyes as he looked around and remembered where he was and all that had happened.

“Nii-sama!” he shouted, throwing his arms around Kaiba. In his excitement and relief, he hardly noticed the warm, wet substance his hands came into contact with on his brother’s back.

For a few seconds, Kaiba was quiet, just holding Mokuba closely before he pulled away to look him up and down. “Are you all right?” he asked, eyes flickering back toward Bakura for the briefest of moments, almost too quick to notice. “Can you walk on your own?”

“Of course,” he said energetically. “Let’s get out of here.” He let go of Kaiba and started to stand when something caught his eye. He looked down at his hands and was startled to see blood there. “Oh…” he murmured. He stared at the blood, wondering if he had in fact been injured at some point, but his hands did not hurt and the skin was undamaged. He immediately looked up at Kaiba, his eyes wide.

Kaiba was also staring at the blood on Mokuba’s hands, remembering that it was his own too slowly to deflect Mokuba’s worry.

“Nii-sama… You’re hurt…” Mokuba vaguely recalled the slight bloodstains on the coat that he only now noticed was missing. “Are you okay? Can you walk? No, wait, just wait here, I’m sure there’s a phone here somewhere.”

Mokuba got up but Kaiba almost didn’t follow. He was tired. Nearly all of his strength had washed away in the flood of relief that came the moment Mokuba was safe again, and it was a struggle to make himself stand.

Mokuba, about to race off, stopped abruptly, but it wasn’t to scold Kaiba about not pushing himself too hard. A brief gleam of light from the floor had caught his attention and made the blood drain from his face in a rush. Bakura’s eyes opened and he stood slowly with an angry glare locked on Mokuba. Mokuba took a shaky step backward and felt Kaiba’s hand latch roughly onto his shoulder, pulling him back.

“Kaiba…” Bakura said, his voice rough. “How did you–?” He cut himself off when the Millennium Ring shuddered, the tines clinking gently against each other before one of them rose smoothly up, reaching toward the door of the stockroom. Bakura turned sharply toward the door though there was no clear line of sight past all of the shelves. “Pharaoh…” he growled.

From somewhere inside the bookstore, they heard someone call out, “There’s a light in the back!” and numerous footsteps grew louder as several people piled through the door and into the stockroom. Bakura glanced first at his immediate surroundings, then up at the cheap aluminum shelving in front of him. Without much pause, he threw his shoulder against it and the whole unit tipped, hovering on its edge as if in slow motion before succumbing to gravity and crashing against the shelves behind it. The resulting domino effect was exactly what Bakura had been aiming for.

The pharaoh had been the first to enter the stockroom, followed closely by five members of the SPR team. They all stared for one deer-in-headlights moment as they realized what the crashing sound was. Then everyone moved at once. John grabbed hold of Mai’s wrist and yanked her with him back through the door of the stockroom. Takigawa and Ayako dashed out just behind them, but the pharaoh and Masako were much closer to the other side of the room than to the door. The pharaoh quickly realized this and caught Masako’s arm before she could run the wrong way, pulling her out from under the tipping shelf and into the aisle along the wall just before it could smash down on her.

Bakura had taken off running down the opposite aisle the moment the first shelf had toppled. The four SPR members, having only just escaped, did not react in time to catch him as he darted past them, heading for the side exit that led out between the buildings.

A long sharp whistle suddenly sounded outside and Bakura stopped cold at the sight of the five shiki filling the open doorway. The delay was enough. Takigawa was already rushing through a chant as he ran to the front of the store and stabbed a tokkosho into the sill of the display window, raising a barrier and trapping the thief king inside the building. Naru and Lin stepped through into the store just as the pharaoh, Masako, and the Kaiba brothers were exiting the back room.

“A spirit like yourself can’t pass through this barrier,” Naru informed Bakura, though he seemed to have realized this for himself, standing before Naru and Lin and watching them carefully, but not trying to get past them to the door. “This goes for you as well,” Naru added, glancing over at the pharaoh. He only nodded.

“You’re outnumbered,” Naru continued. “Leave Bakura Ryou-san’s body.”

Bakura laughed. “You don’t know anything, do you? This boy was destined to be my vessel. The Ring is bound to him and I am bound to the Ring.”

“That’s not true,” the pharaoh said sharply, glaring at Bakura. “You’ve tried to take Mokuba’s body before.”

“Would you prefer I move to someone else then?” he sneered, glancing back at him. “I can hardly leave him without another vessel to go to.”

“Then we’ll just have to remove you,” Naru said, arms crossed, staring him down.

“I can’t let you do that,” the pharaoh insisted, stepping forward. “I can’t let you do to Bakura what you almost did to Yuugi.”

“I don’t need you to protect my host, Pharaoh,” Bakura growled.

“Are _you_ trying to protect your host?” Naru said with interest.

“Oh, yes,” Bakura replied, smiling. “I’m just like the pharaoh, here. You see, we’re all on the same side.”

“Bakura…” the pharaoh warned, his patience ebbing.

“What you don’t seem to understand here, pharaoh, is that there’s nothing to be done for the situation here. You don’t want my host to be hurt, so you have no choice but to let me go… Unless you want to settle this with a shadow game?” The grin that followed his words was unsettling at best.

“That’s fine–” the pharaoh started but Bakura cut him off.

“And of course that would mean pulling _everyone_ here into it.” Black tendrils were already reaching through the air around Bakura as the Ring’s tines swayed, and the pharaoh couldn’t stop himself from wrenching around to look at Kaiba, Mokuba, Mai, Masako and John, all standing well back from where the others had Bakura surrounded.

Ayako could see the fear in his eyes and she didn’t wait to find out why. She raised her hand, fingers slicing through the air in quick, sharp succession, punctuated with the chant for the Binding of Immobility.

“ _Rin, pyo, tou, sha–_ ”

“What are you doing?” the pharaoh demanded, panic clawing at him as his eyes snapped over to her.

“ _kai, jin, retsu, zai–_ ”

Bakura took a step forward toward Ayako, recognizing the danger.

“ _Zen!_ ”

Bakura’s body seized, caught in the spell, and the shadows churned, lingering but no longer growing. “What… did you…?” He couldn’t complete the sentence, his voice unbearably strained against the binding.

“Let him go!” the pharaoh demanded, but Ayako snapped back almost on top of his words, “You do _not_ call the shots. I immobilized him. Now do you have a way to put a stop to all this or not?”

The pharaoh’s eyes flicked back to Bakura, a dangerous scarlet tint reflecting in them, and the shadows around Bakura suddenly pulled away, reaching for the pharaoh instead. “Yes, I think I do.”

“Sorry… Pharaoh…” Bakura grated out. “I won’t be… sticking around.”

The bookstore was suddenly flooded with light and everyone threw an arm up to cover their eyes.


	19. Chapter 19

September

Day 4 – Early morning

 

Ryou felt his knees hit a hard, thin covering of carpet almost before he was really conscious. His eyes fluttered open just briefly before he folded the rest of the way down onto the floor, his head pounding and his whole body weak with deep exhaustion. Someone grabbed his arms and lifted him gently, propping him up against the wall.

“Are you all right, Bakura-kun?”

He recognized Yuugi’s voice close beside him and forced his eyes open again. “…Where am I?”

“Um…” Yuugi fished around for a good way to answer but quickly decided that there wasn’t one and said instead, “Bakura-kun, the Ring…”

Ryou’s hand moved up automatically at the mention of the Item, but there was nothing there. The Ring had vanished.

“The Ring…” Ryou murmured. “Was I wearing it?”

The pharaoh appeared beside Yuugi and gave him a warning glance and Yuugi sighed. “Never mind; don’t worry about it,” he said to Ryou.

Standing back behind the ring of people around Ryou, Mokuba gave a quiet sigh of relief. He didn’t fully understand the change that had taken place, but he knew it meant that the person who’d kidnapped him and hurt his brother was gone. This freed his mind to work on other matters, like getting home.

Mokuba went over to the counter and hoisted himself up, dropping down on the other side of it and picking up a phone. After a brief pause to go through a mental list of who had been on staff that night, he punched in Isono’s phone number and thanked whatever source of good fortune had made tonight one of Isono’s nights off. Kaiba watched Mokuba silently from the other side of the counter.

“Hello?”

“Isono, it’s Mokuba.”

“Ah, Mokuba-sama. Is everything all right?”

“Pretty much. Could you come pick us up? We’re at…” Mokuba grabbed a paper bookmark from the stack on the counter and squinted at the print in the darkness. “Firefly Books. It’s a few blocks from the house. And hurry; it’s urgent.”

“Of course.”

Mokuba hung up and climbed back over the counter again after taking a moment to wipe the call history from the phone and returned to his brother’s side. Kaiba did not comment on Mokuba’s decision, but there was a faint, satisfied smirk on his face until Yuugi came up to them.

“Kaiba-kun, you should really go to the hospital–”

“Mind your own business, Yuugi.”

Kaiba and Yuugi both turned their eyes to Mokuba, slightly surprised.

“I appreciate you coming here to help,” the boy continued firmly. “But we’ll take care of the rest on our own.”

“Oh… um, right,” Yuugi conceded. The pleased smirk was fully evident on Kaiba’s face now and it made him look far less unwell, but Yuugi still worried.

“I think it would be best if we not linger here much longer,” Naru cut in. “Regardless of our reasons, this is still breaking and entering after all.”

Eleven people filed out the side exit of Firefly Books and out onto the street where the SPR van and Lin’s car were parked.

“Are you sure we can’t give you a ride or something?” Mai offered tentatively to the Kaiba brothers as the SPR team got into their vehicles.

“No thanks,” Kaiba shot back immediately but Mai only rolled her eyes and climbed into the van. She was way too tired to argue manners with somebody like Kaiba now. “Come on, Mutou-san,” she said. “We’ll take you and Bakura-san home.”

“Sorry for the trouble,” Ryou said, feeling distinctly like the words were not enough. He followed Mai into the van but Yuugi hesitated, still watching the Kaiba brothers. It didn’t feel right to drive off and leave the two of them alone on the street at night, especially with the condition Kaiba was in.

When Yuugi still did not move to get into the van, the duel spirit of his Kuriboh appeared, squeaking reassuringly and gesturing at itself and then Kaiba before floating over to hover next to the brothers. Yuugi smiled and got into the van. _He’ll let us know if anything happens,_ he thought with some confidence and heard the pharaoh agree in the back of his mind. _They should be fine._

In the van, Masako turned abruptly from the window, her eyes wide in shock, but she didn’t say anything.

“Kaiba-san,” Both Kaiba and Mokuba looked up as Naru approached them. “Your phone,” he said, holding the device out to Mokuba.

“Oh… Um, why did you–?” he cut himself off, his eyes widening slightly, and he turned to look up at the store front then back at Naru. “You…?”

“It’s not important,” Naru said, glancing over at Kaiba who was scowling at him. “Be careful on your way home.” He got into Lin’s car and the two vehicles drove off, leaving Kaiba and Mokuba to wait in front of the shop.

 

When Isono pulled up in front of Firefly Books and saw Kaiba, looking pale as death in the glare of the headlights, his only thought was, _I’m glad they called me._ He threw the car into park and hurried to get out, but Kaiba was already opening the back passenger door for himself. Mokuba was hovering at his side as though expecting him to drop in the street at any second as he lowered himself into the car.

“I’m fine, Mokuba,” Kaiba said for what Isono was sure had to be something around the twentieth time. Which was not to say that Kaiba sounded irritated or exasperated. Really, he just sounded tired. Still, there was no doubt in Isono’s mind that in however much time as the brothers had been together in this state, Mokuba would not have stopped asking, and Kaiba would not have stopped reassuring him.

As soon as Kaiba’s door closed, Mokuba hurried around to the other side, and Kuriboh rushed forward as well, slipping into the car just before Mokuba did to hover between the brothers in the backseat, trilling sadly at Kaiba. A moment later however, Isono took off with smooth acceleration that sent Kuriboh tumbling out of the car through the back windshield. He made chase as soon as he’d realized what had happened, but he was quickly falling behind. Then a vast, echoing cry sounded into the night and Kuriboh bobbed to a stationary hover at the sight of a Blue Eyes White Dragon gliding over the rooftops, following the path of the car. With a silent sigh of relief, Kuriboh turned back toward the game shop.

In the car, Mokuba glanced down at his cell phone, scowling at the blinking red battery light. “Isono, give me your phone.”

Isono immediately handed his phone into the waiting hand outstretched from the back seat. There was, of course, absolutely no doubt that he would do so, regardless, but if Mokuba wasn’t bothering to be polite, he knew it must be very important and fairly urgent. He glanced again in his rearview mirror at Kaiba.

Mokuba dialed in another number from memory and put the phone to his ear. His face was impassive, in a fair imitation of his brother’s when he was being patient because he had to – when there was no point to not being patient – but his tension was a bit closer to the surface. After a few rings, a man answered and Mokuba identified himself shortly then informed the man that he would be coming to the Kaiba mansion right away. The man must have agreed because Mokuba hung up without another word.

That done, he sank back into his seat and cast a surreptitious glance at Kaiba. He’d half expected his brother to protest his calling in a doctor, but Kaiba remained silent and Mokuba did his best not to take that as a cause for worry. If he was being honest with himself, he did look very pale, but he told himself it was just the pseudo light of early, early morning (of which, had he any inclination toward honesty at that moment, he’d admit there was none) and tried to focus on other things. Like how fast Isono was driving, and how he still had blood on his hands, and how his brother never slouched like that…

 

“Are you sure you’re all right, Bakura-kun?” Yuugi asked. He could feel the eyes of each person in the van on them as they stood outside of Ryou’s apartment.

“Yes, I’m… uh, sorry for all the trouble,” he said.

“Don’t worry about it. Just get some rest, okay?”

Ryou gave Yuugi a weary smile. “Thank you.”

“Is it really okay to just let this guy go?” Takigawa murmured as they watched Ryou disappear into the building.

“The spirit of the Ring is our responsibility,” Yuugi answered, overhearing them as he climbed back into the van. “We’ll take care of it, so please, leave Bakura-kun to us.” The pharaoh appeared beside him and gave him a sad, almost pained look that told Masako he regretted that that responsibility should have fallen on Yuugi at all. But even knowing that, she couldn’t help but feel unsettled by the spirit’s dark presence.

“…Spirit-san,” she said in a small voice almost too quiet to hear over the drone of the van. “I’m… sorry for how I treated you.”

“It’s all right,” the pharaoh answered.

“I was wondering,” she went on, not meeting his eyes. “If you want, I could perform a purification for you. It may… help you move on.” She could almost feel his eyes harden into that sharp, dangerous glare but she looked up anyway, meeting his gaze head-on. “It’s not the same as an exorcism,” she insisted, though her voice was still faint. “It might work, with your cooperation that is.”

There was a long pause and everyone in the van was silent, most of them not knowing if the conversation was being continued since they could not see or hear the spirit of the pharaoh. Even Yuugi stayed quiet, waiting anxiously for his partner’s reply.

“You will not have my cooperation,” he said finally.

“But why?” Masako asked. “Don’t you want to move on? You’ve been bound here for thousands of years…” Her concern was genuine and Yuugi shifted uncomfortably in his seat, his eyes on the floor.

“I’m sure there is a reason for that,” the pharaoh answered. “And even if there was not, I will not put Yuugi at risk.” Masako opened her mouth to retort but he stopped her before she could say a word. “Don’t,” he said firmly. “You did not see the damage your previous attempt to help has caused.” The spirit’s eyes landed on John and held, his gaze filled with barely contained hatred, and Masako was deeply grateful that the young exorcist could not see or hear the spirit. She knew he was still consumed with guilt, terrified by what might have happened because of the exorcism he’d performed on the high school boy sitting across from her.

“…Can you decide that for him?”

Masako, John, and Yuugi all jumped slightly at the sound of Mai’s voice cutting into the silence that had fallen. Masako stared openly, trying to determine if Mai had actually spoken to the spirit or if she was making guesses based on only half the conversation, but Mai, oblivious to the fact that she was doing anything strange, continued. “It’s not fair to Mutou-san the way things are now,” she said, clearly addressing the pharaoh.

Yuugi was about to protest but the spirit stopped him with a gentle hand on his shoulder. “It’s all right, aibou,” he said. Then he turned his focus back to Mai and Masako saw again the expression of pain and sadness. “I know that,” he said softly.

“What are you talking about?” Yuugi exclaimed, looking up at the pharaoh with bright, determined eyes. “I’m the one who put the Puzzle together. We’re partners, and we’re gonna help each other get through anything. That’s what friends do!”

The pharaoh was silent for a few moments, looking down at Yuugi with a slightly startled expression before he relaxed, his eyes softening and a small smile forming on his lips. _…Thank you, aibou._

“Are we done here?”

Yuugi looked up, surprised by a new voice that came from outside of the van. Naru was standing next to an open window – they had pulled up in front of the game shop and Yuugi had not even noticed. He glanced again at the pharaoh with a bright smile. _Let’s go._

Yuugi climbed out of the van and Naru turned to go back to Lin’s car, but Yuugi stopped him. “Ah… Shibuya-san…” he said hesitantly. Naru paused and turned back to him. “Are you all right with leaving the rest to us?” he asked.

Naru let out a sigh. “It doesn’t matter to me. I’ll leave it up to the client.”

“Client…?” Yuugi repeated. “Someone hired you to investigate the tournament?”

“Not exactly,” Naru answered. “But regardless, I think he’ll be willing to let the matter go, so you can do as you like.” He turned back to the car and got in and Yuugi watched as the SPR team drove off into the quiet night.


	20. Chapter 20

September

Day 4 – Early morning

 

Fortunately, no one had been killed. If anyone had, there might still have been police at the Kaiba mansion when the brothers arrived back home, and that would have been unfortunate for everyone involved. As it was, all of the security guards who had been knocked out were woken fairly easily by the paramedics, and had made quick work of their reports to the authorities on the slim chance that they wouldn’t all be losing their jobs in the morning regardless. It was this hope that also kept them standing watch outside after all the emergency vehicles had gone, despite having been attacked earlier that night.

Isono pulled up in front of the house and got out to open the back passenger door, offering his hand to Kaiba to help him to his feet.

“I’m fine,” Kaiba insisted, his voice cold but faint with stubbornness and exhaustion.

Isono didn’t bat an eye. “With all due respect, Kaiba-sama, I insist on helping.” He stood beside the car, waiting for Kaiba’s verdict which came only after a long pause.

“…Fine; do whatever you want,” he said, and Isono reached into the car again to take Kaiba’s hand and pull him carefully up. For just a moment, Kaiba did not let go, perhaps, Isono thought, hesitating to be sure his legs would hold, because then he dropped Isono’s hand and made his own way around the car and up to the front door, ignoring Isono’s offered support. Isono followed closely all the same.

Mokuba clambered out of the car after them and ran ahead to release the scanner lock on the front door, and Kaiba wondered briefly if there would be a mess of people inside. He was certain there had been ambulances and paramedics at the mansion when he’d snuck down to the underground garage on his way to find Mokuba. There had even been two of the people from Shibuya up in Mokuba’s room, though they had also been at the bookstore so it certainly wasn’t likely that they’d be at the mansion now. Kaiba suppressed a sigh and abandoned his thoughts, too exhausted to keep them up, and followed Mokuba into the house to see for himself who was there. By some miracle, the place seemed to be empty.

Isono subtly herded Kaiba toward the couch one room over from the antechamber then paused at a decorative wooden panel on the wall where he slid a smaller panel aside and punched in a code on the number pad underneath. The lock beeped quietly and the latch gave, the larger panel popping open on unseen hinges to allow Isono to remove his headset from where it hung among the neatly labeled rows set inside the wall. He quickly fixed the earpiece in place and settled the microphone in his collar, requesting a general status report in calm undertones as he watched the Kaiba brothers from around the doorway of the sitting room.

Kaiba sat on the couch but refrained from leaning back. His adrenaline had long since run dry and the wounds on his back were biting into his shoulders and ribs with each movement now, punctuating the constant, beating pain in his head.

“You should probably try to stay awake, Nii-sama,” Mokuba said. “You’ll need to be tested for a concussion.”

The casual comment gave Kaiba some pause, and a small corner of his mind acknowledged with satisfaction and some pride that Mokuba seemed to be handling the situation well. He gave one slow, careful nod as Mokuba took a seat on the couch close beside him.

It was only minutes later that the doctor arrived and was guided into the room by Isono. Mokuba sprang to his feet again. “Ishiyama-sensei–” he started but Kaiba cut him off.

“Look at Mokuba first,” he said firmly.

Mokuba whirled, leveling a serious glare at his brother, his fists suddenly planted on his hips. “ _Nii-sama_ , I am _fine._ You’re being stupid.”

In the corner, Isono hid a smile behind his hand as he pretended to clear his throat.

Kaiba folded his arms, not giving an inch, and answered coolly, “I’d rather be sure.”

“It won’t take long, Mokuba-sama,” Ishiyama said, already kneeling in front of the couch and gently turning Mokuba to face him. “Arguing would take longer.”

With the doctor apparently on Kaiba’s side against him, Mokuba put up with the quick examination, answering all of Ishiyama’s questions succinctly, and grudgingly cooperating with all of the poking and prodding that came with them, but when Ishiyama reached for the medical kit he’d brought with him and attempted to clean Mokuba’s hands with antiseptic, he lost his patience.

“I’m not hurt,” he repeated irritably, pulling away from Ishiyama. “That blood’s not mine.” He shot another glare at his brother, his frustration getting the better of him.

“Well?” Kaiba prompted, purposely looking only at Ishiyama and ignoring Mokuba’s deepening scowl.

“He seems perfectly healthy, if a little over-tired,” Ishiyama said. “I recommended a good night’s sleep.”

“Good. Mokuba, go upstairs,” Kaiba said.

Mokuba opened his mouth to argue again but Isono came over at that moment and said cheerfully, “I’ll accompany you, Mokuba-sama,” leaving him with little choice, outnumbered as he was, but to allow himself to be herded out of the sitting room and up the stairs.

He trudged down the hallway to his room and found the door standing open. Lying just inside on the floor was Kaiba’s coat. Mokuba’s eyebrows pulled together as he paused beside it, trying to recall if there was a reason he knew of for the coat to be there. Still contemplating it, he reached down and picked it up. His eyes were drawn to the inner lining. Eight holes in two crooked rows had been punched through the layer of Kevlar underneath the fabric, and the lining around each one was stained with dark patches of blood. Mokuba’s fists clenched on the lapels and he gritted his teeth as his body, exhausted and overwhelmed, began to shake with bitter anger and renewed fear. All at once, he threw the coat down and turned to run back downstairs.

Isono had also been taken by surprise at the sight of the coat and all that it implied – surprised enough that he barely caught Mokuba in time and had to grab the back of the boy’s shirt to keep him from running off. “I’m sorry, Mokuba-sama,” he said quickly without letting go. “I think it would be best to leave Kaiba-sama to Ishiyama-sensei for now. He’ll be all right.”

Mokuba didn’t answer and didn’t try to get away. He just stood, his head ducked low and his shoulders shaking with each quiet, shuddering breath he took as he swallowed back the tears that were pushing their way to the surface. It was a difficult sight for Isono to bear, but he gathered himself silently and was able to continue. “You need your rest too, sir,” he said quietly. “Please.”

He let go of Mokuba’s shirt and Mokuba reluctantly turned back, pushing past Isono and into his room, through to the adjoined bathroom without a word. Isono sighed softly and went to the window. The floodlights were still blazing out from all sides and he shut them off before drawing the curtains closed. Then he gathered up Kaiba’s coat from the floor and quickly removed it to another room before Mokuba came out of the bathroom and got into bed.

“Do you need anything, sir?” Isono asked from the doorway.

Mokuba shook his head. “Go back downstairs,” he muttered.

“…Of course, sir.” Isono backed into the hallway and eased the door shut, extinguishing the last of the light in the bedroom, and Mokuba threw himself back onto his pillows to stare up at the canopy of his bed. His mind was buzzing with too many thoughts, the loudest of which brought bitter tears in the silent darkness of his room.

_For once, I wanted to protect Nii-sama… but he got hurt again… protecting me._

 

Ishiyama had seen his fair share of strange “injuries” while in the service of the Kaiba brothers, but he knew better than to pry. He had first started working for the Kaibas when the elder brother had fallen into a strange and sudden coma. Several doctors were called in to try to determine what was wrong, but after Kaiba’s (completely inexplicable) recovery, Mokuba had requested that Ishiyama be kept on for house calls. This, he suspected, was probably due not only to his competence, but also to his ability to not ask stupid, irritating, or simply too many questions, and to the fact that he knew enough to keep their business out of the tabloids.

It was for this reason that the doctor was struggling now. The moment Isono and Mokuba had left the room, Kaiba hunched forward, holding himself up with his elbows propped on his knees, and one hand holding up his head. A very brief examination told Ishiyama that he was dealing with a fairly serious head injury. Unfortunately, the test for a concussion included asking the patient questions, and Kaiba would almost certainly not want to answer.

Sighing quietly, Ishiyama took a pen light from his bag and seated himself on the coffee table in front of Kaiba. “I need you to look straight ahead,” he said, making a deliberate effort to keep his voice soft. He couldn’t help but feel slightly impressed when the young CEO gathered himself and straightened again, suppressing pain and exhaustion and taking up the cold, professional veneer so flawlessly that Ishiyama wondered if he’d imagined the momentary lapse.

Ishiyama clicked on the light and held it up, watching carefully for any abnormalities as Kaiba’s eyes reacted. “That’s a good sign,” he said as he tucked the light back into his bag and began removing alcohol swabs and bandages. “Can you take off your shirt?”

Kaiba moved automatically to do so, and the pain of the movement chased away some of the fog that had moved in at the edges of his mind. He clenched his teeth and eased the shirt off then turned to sit sideways on the couch so Ishiyama could reach his back. He could already feel new blood trickling down now that the fabric and movement had pulled the fresh wounds open again.

Ishiyama faltered momentarily when he turned toward Kaiba again with a prepared swab. His back was smeared with blood, fresh welling up and spilling over old around what Ishiyama quickly assessed to be eight puncture wounds in two rough lines down Kaiba’s back. He immediately suppressed the almost instinctual desire to ask what had happened and instead said only, “This will sting a little,” as he carefully began cleaning each one.

Kaiba felt himself flinch, his body reacting to pain his mind no longer registered. It occurred to him somewhat vaguely that that wasn’t exactly normal, but he let the thought slip away, too tired to hold on to it. As Ishiyama cleaned and bandaged the wounds on his back, he questioned Kaiba in cautious undertones.

“Do you remember what happened?”

“Did you black out?”

“Have you had any problems with your vision since then?”

“What day is it?”

Kaiba answered mechanically, his brain dragging up the information with some delay, but Ishiyama seemed satisfied. As soon as he was finished with the bandages he dropped a few pills into Kaiba’s hand and Kaiba swallowed them without question. Ishiyama stood.

“You were lucky,” he said and Kaiba glanced up at him from his seat on the couch, eyes narrowed in annoyance. “Really, just damned lucky,” Ishiyama said anyway.

Isono came into the sitting room at that moment. “I had your car pulled up for you,” he said to Ishiyama.

“Thank you; I think we’re just about done here,” he replied, smiling though his eyes looked weary. He turned to Kaiba again. “I know you’ll probably ignore me when I say this, but the best thing you can do right now is rest. Get some sleep, don’t skip meals, and don’t strain yourself – body _or_ mind. You need to let yourself recover if you want to be productive again.” He smirked a little at the scowl Kaiba was giving him. At least it showed the boy was listening and probably that he understood.

“I’ll escort you out,” Isono said and Ishiyama nodded and followed him from the room, into the antechamber. “Thank you for coming on such short notice… and at such a late hour,” Isono said, only a hint of the underlying apology seeping through the words.

“It’s fine. I’m just glad they called at all. I wouldn’t have been surprised to hear later that Kaiba-sama had gotten into trouble like this and refused to be helped.”

As they came to the door, Isono added, “Your fee will be paid promptly, of course.”

“Oh, I’m not worried,” Ishiyama replied, the tired smile appearing again. “I’ll be back tomorrow to see how he’s doing, if that’s all right.”

“Of course.” Isono opened the door for Ishiyama and stepped out after him. The sky was already pale with sunlight in the distance. Ishiyama reached out to open his car door but paused when Isono spoke again. “Ishiyama-kun…” he started quietly, and the doctor turned from the car to face him. “I know you can’t say much but… he _will_ be all right this time, won’t he?”

Ishiyama’s eyes moved to the sitting room window where heavy curtains hung closed against the sunrise. “…Yes,” he answered eventually, and Isono’s breathing started up again. Ishiyama smiled knowingly, but then he was shaking his head. “The boy is really something else, isn’t he,” he sighed.

“He’s the best,” Isono replied easily. They traded a brief look of kinship, then Ishiyama was off, his car easing out into the quiet streets and silently away from the mansion. Isono went back inside.

“How are you feeling, Kaiba-sama?” Isono asked as he came back into the sitting room. He paused for just a moment when he didn’t see Kaiba sitting there anymore, but in a few more steps he was close enough to see over the back of the over-large couch. Kaiba was lying across the cushions on his stomach, fast asleep with his head on one of his arms, heedless of the bruises left where Gernia’s grip had crushed around him. Isono’s first thought was that he probably shouldn’t be sleeping like that, but at this point he supposed it wouldn’t have made much difference if he’d fallen asleep on a proper bed since his back was too badly injured to lay on anyway.

_He’ll probably wake up soon regardless,_ he thought, heading out of the room to find a blanket. _He can move to his room then._

Isono approached the couch quietly and very carefully laid the blanket over Kaiba, thinking all the while that the boy would probably have his job, or even his head if he could see Isono doing such a thing. Still, it couldn’t be helped.

Isono sank into a nearby armchair and pulled out his phone, setting the alarm for an hour in case he drifted off himself. All things considered though, it wasn’t terribly likely.


	21. Chapter 21

September

Day 4 – Early morning

 

Yuugi eased the door of the game shop closed, cringing at the soft jingle of the attached bell. It was nearly sunrise and he had been out all night. With a weary sigh, he snuck up the stairs and into his bedroom. The pharaoh appeared beside him as he went to the bed and sat down heavily.

“Are you all right?” he asked.

Yuugi looked up, slightly confused. “Yeah, of course,” he answered, keeping his voice low. “Although… Do you think Ishtar-san is still at the museum?”

The pharaoh paused, caught off guard by Yuugi’s question. With everything that had happened in the last few hours, he had not expected his partner to still be thinking about something like that.

“It’s late,” he said. “There’s no need to rush. The god cards aren’t going anywhere and neither is the tablet. It would be better if you rested now. You’ve been through a lot.”

“I’m fine,” Yuugi insisted again, but he was caught by a yawn a moment later and he laughed sheepishly at the pharaoh’s raised eyebrow. “But I guess I am a little tired,” he admitted. Without further argument, Yuugi changed his clothes and crawled into bed, sighing quietly at the comfort of his pillows. His eyes slipped closed…

Chilling, silent blackness rose up around him. The floor vanished beneath him. He was falling. He was flying downward. So fast the air might crush him before the bottom but there was no bottom and he was falling and he couldn’t stop–

Yuugi jerked awake, gasping for breath and clinging to the mattress like it was a life raft on tossing waves. The spirit of the Puzzle was startled to awareness and appeared beside Yuugi with a tightly controlled sense of panic tugging at his own nerves. “Aibou!” he called, grabbing Yuugi’s shoulder. He could feel him shaking. “Aibou, what’s wrong?” he tried again, but Yuugi could not seem to respond. Worry bordering on fear began to build within the pharaoh and he retreated to his soul room, hoping his suspicions were not about to be confirmed.

Yuugi was there in the pharaoh’s room, sitting with his back against the door and his knees pulled in, holding his head and trembling. The pharaoh hurried to his side and touched his shoulder carefully. “Aibou…”

“W-What do I do?” Yuugi stammered. He threw a nervous look behind him at the door and Atem did not need to open it to know that the void was still there between their rooms. He could feel the grasping emptiness even through his door.

_…But he needs to return to his own room,_ the pharaoh thought. _Or he’ll slowly start to lose himself. Especially in a place like this._ He cast a bitter glance over his shoulder at the maze-tomb that was his room. Inhospitable didn’t really begin to cover it. He turned back to Yuugi.

“Aibou… listen,” he said, concern making his voice more firm and commanding. “You have the ability to rebuild what was torn down. What was lost. You built that corridor when you accepted me into yourself, even if you didn’t realize it at the time. You can do it again. You need to be connected to your soul room… Do you understand?”

Still shaking, Yuugi nodded and closed his eyes. His hand flinched as though he wanted to reach out, and the pharaoh immediately clasped it in his own, holding tightly in support, and he felt Yuugi return the grip just as strongly. The pharaoh’s eyes slipped closed and silence stretched for what might have been hours or no time at all, but when it ended they let go and looked up. Without a word, the pharaoh stood and helped Yuugi to his feet. After a quick glance for confirmation, he opened his door out into the corridor.

A fine, glass bridge stretched out between the pharaoh’s door and Yuugi’s. It seemed to be supported by stone veins that reached out underneath it from the pharaoh’s side.

Yuugi looked out across the fragile bridge set in the midst of the gaping black void to his door, standing closed between the crumbling brick of the walls of his room. For a long time, he didn’t move.

“You cannot rebuild from here,” the pharaoh said softly, his eyes moving again to the hole broken through beside Yuugi’s door. “And if you do not rebuild, you will go insane.” He turned his back on the destruction and emptiness and offered his hand to Yuugi. “Don’t worry,” he said. “I’ll come with you.”

Yuugi reached out for the pharaoh’s hand without conscious thought and he was suddenly being led out onto the delicate glass. His grip tightened as they walked, the void stretching out endlessly on either side of them, but the pharaoh only looked ahead, guiding Yuugi forward with confidence until they reached the door to his room. He paused there and waited and Yuugi slowly raised his free hand to touch the handle with the tips of his fingers. A soft flash illuminated the door for just a moment, reflecting off of the bridge before fading away, and Yuugi remembered the light that had flared from the pharaoh’s door just before the floor had given way. Swallowing hard, he grasped the handle and pushed open the door.

The room inside had not changed. Piles of brick filled every inch except for the small area around the door that he had dug out earlier, revealing deep, far-reaching cracks in the floor as well. Yuugi stopped, afraid to step inside, and the pharaoh did not push him. He too had frozen at the doorway, overwhelmed by the extent of the damage he’d only just glimpsed until now.

Then a quick, shrill crack sounded in the silence and the pharaoh pushed Yuugi roughly forward, falling with him onto the broken bricks as the glass bridge shattered and fell, gently tinkling into the void below. In only seconds, all that remained were the stone veins, too few and too thin to be used as a bridge on their own. The pharaoh stared back through the door in mute shock until he felt Yuugi start to tremble beneath him. The spirit quickly got up and closed Yuugi’s door, then returned to his partner’s side. “Aibou–”

“I didn’t mean to do that!” Yuugi gasped out shakily, panic rising like the swell of a wave in his chest. “Now you’re stuck here… You can’t get to your room… I-I don’t–” He grabbed his head, his eyes squeezed shut, and for a moment the pharaoh went cold with the thought that he had acted too late – that the damage had already claimed his partner’s mind and could not be repaired – but he shook the thought away, dismissing it with strength taken from everything he knew of Yuugi’s soul. He could not be overtaken like this.

Unsure of what else to do, the pharaoh dragged Yuugi to his feet and pulled the boy along, up into the mounds of rubble and away from the crumbling floor around the door. Yuugi moved without thought, following the spirit even as he stumbled and slipped on the broken bricks. They worked their way back into a corner of the room and the pharaoh sat down against the wall, insistently pulling the unresisting Yuugi down beside him. He was shaking again, and the spirit quietly gathered him to his chest and looped a comforting arm around his shoulders. After a while, Yuugi’s shaking seemed to quiet somewhat, and the pharaoh began to talk.

“We’ve spent time in each other’s rooms before,” he said softly. “And my room is undamaged. I’ll be all right for a while. There’s plenty of time.”

“…T-Time?” Yuugi asked though he made no attempt to sit up or move from on top of the pharaoh.

The spirit nodded. “Time to rebuild, and set everything right.”

“I don’t know how,” Yuugi muttered, but he no longer sounded frightened, and his trembling had finally faded away.

“Just sleep,” the pharaoh said. “Your dreams will not be pleasant, but they will be your own, and they will help heal your mind.” _And I will be right here._

Yuugi closed his eyes as he felt the warmth of the pharaoh’s thought wrap around him, and darkness rose up to claim him like a panther finally presented with the right moment to spring.


	22. Chapter 22

September

A few days later

 

Naru pulled the buzzing phone from his pocket and gave the number a disinterested glance, his thumb already going for the button to reject the call. He paused when he recognized who it was and changed his mind, answering it.

“Kaiba-san,” he said. “…Is everything all right?”

“No, everything is _not_ all right,” Mokuba replied, his words clipped by barely contained anger. “Yuugi’s been in a coma since that night at the bookstore and his friends are convinced you guys had something to do with it.”

“I’m aware,” Naru said, and there was a brief silence before Mokuba said slowly, flatly, “You’re… aware.”

“Yes. I attempted to contact him after confirming with you that the rest of the case would be left to Mutou-san to handle. My team paid a visit to him in the hospital and Hara-san was able to determine the problem. It’s being handled. He should wake any day now without any problem.”

“Just… what the hell,” Mokuba muttered, and he sounded resigned.

“I’m afraid you’ll have to speak with Mutou-san or that spirit that’s with him if you want more details,” Naru said, unconcerned.

“And if you’re lying?”

“Then you and your considerable security force know where to find me.”

Mokuba sighed. “That’s true,” he said lightly. “Still… I’d like to believe you, for Yuugi’s sake if nothing else. And I actually did want to thank you… for keeping all of this a secret for me. And for your help with Bakura.”

“Then your brother never found out?” Naru asked

“No, he… He was pretty distracted by the time…” Another soft sigh. “He had other things to worry about. He’s not happy about the whole thing. The emergency vehicles at the mansion put the whole thing all over the news. It took a lot of creativity to put the gossip-hounds off.”

“And Bakura-san?”

“…I’m not sure. My brother doesn’t want me anywhere near him. I was able to convince him not to press charges. I mean… he doesn’t believe it wasn’t really him, but I think it helped that we’re going to be in America so…”

_The elder Kaiba doesn’t seem to know anything about what is happening around him,_ Naru thought. _Pursuing legal action would mean giving up more information about that night, including telling the police that some teenager got past all of his security and kidnapped his little brother. Not likely._ “I see,” was all he said.

“Shibuya-san…”

Naru’s eyes slid to the side, toward the phone in his hand, taking note of the hesitance and seriousness in Mokuba’s voice now.

“…Dr. Davis,” Mokuba said in English. Naru froze and Mokuba continued. “I want to trust you. I know why you’re in Japan. …If there’s ever anything I can do to help you with your search… To help you find your brother…”

Naru’s jaw clenched and he didn’t speak, letting the pause drag on.

“I know it’s none of my business,” Mokuba eventually said. “But when I found out, I just… If it were me, I would never stop looking. Anything I can do to help…”

“I understand,” Naru managed, his voice tight, and Mokuba acknowledged silently that it was time to step off of this particular subject.

“Just… Good luck, Dr. Davis.” Mokuba hung up and Naru slowly lowered the phone, standing still and silent after the call had ended.

_It’s only natural… And really I should have expected it. The kid has plenty of resources and even more reasons to be extremely cautious. He’d have done his research before ever getting in touch with me at all._

Lin came up to him, watching him with poorly concealed concern. “Naru…?”

“There’s nothing here,” Naru said. “Let’s go back.”

Lin only nodded and they got into the car to make their way back to Shibuya.


	23. Chapter 23

September

The next night

 

He slept fitfully, but he slept, and when Yuugi finally opened his eyes, it was not to the sun through his bedroom skylight, but to a white room with geometric curtains drawn closed in front of a dark window, and a vase of flowers next to a white bed that was not his own.

“Ugh…” Yuugi sat up and one hand went to his head, but the other felt heavy. Weighed down. He glanced down and saw the Puzzle resting on the bed beside him, the chain grasped firmly, almost painfully tight in his hand. Without a second thought, he quickly placed it around his neck.

_Other me…?_

The pharaoh appeared beside him, smiling gently down at him, but he seemed exhausted. Almost as if the spirit was not quite as solid as he usually seemed to Yuugi, or that his posture was not quite as self-assured, his gaze not as sharp.

_You’re finally awake,_ the pharaoh said.

_Finally…?_ With a sense of dread, Yuugi suddenly processed with full force the fact that he was lying in a hospital bed with no idea of how he had gotten there. He stared up at the pharaoh with barely contained fear. _How long…?_

_Only a few days,_ the pharaoh replied quickly.

The tension rushed out of Yuugi’s body and he sagged back into the pillow.

_But everyone has been very worried,_ the spirit continued.

Yuugi hardly heard him. He had allowed himself to be distracted briefly, but now he was staring at the pharaoh, analyzing him with growing concern. _You haven’t slept… Not at all…_

_I couldn’t,_ he admitted. _But I didn’t mind. You fixed everything, aibou. Let me show you._ He faded from the room and Yuugi turned his thoughts inward. He opened his eyes in his soul room and found himself lying on the floor, still half wrapped in the pharaoh’s arms. Without moving, he looked around. Everything was whole and new and solid again.

Yuugi carefully stood and helped the pharaoh to his feet as well before turning a slow, wide-eyed circle as he took everything in. “Thank you,” he said, his voice filled with relief as he turned back to the spirit.

The pharaoh smiled. “You did all of this.” He went to the door, Yuugi close behind, and opened it to reveal the renewed corridor.

_Was it this bright before?_ Yuugi thought and the pharaoh laughed lightly at the sense of wonder he felt from his partner. They stepped out together onto sturdy brick, overlaid with glittering panels of glass that covered the walls and floor. Stone veins reached out decoratively underneath the glass, originating from the pharaoh’s door and spreading across to ornament every surface.

“It seems you saw fit to make some design changes,” the pharaoh said with a smirk.

Yuugi felt his face heat with embarrassment though he wasn’t entirely sure why. “You should get some rest,” he said, changing the subject, and the pharaoh smiled softly at him again.

Yuugi wandered over to the pharaoh’s door and touched the handle curiously. When nothing happened, he pulled it open and peered inside. The room looked the same as ever. For a moment, Yuugi just stood, feeling slightly perplexed, and the pharaoh came up behind him, covering the hand still resting on the door handle with his own.

“Do you know what that light was?” he asked, feeling Yuugi’s puzzlement and correctly interpreting it. “You had sealed the doors,” he said quietly. “When you ran from the exorcist, you sealed off my door so that the spell could not touch me. Then you sealed your own, instinctively trying to protect the corridor that connects us as well – to lock the effects into your room alone – but the corridor could not be protected. And neither could you. We should have both taken the damage of a soul bound to a body being ripped away, but you protected me… and saved us both.”

Yuugi turned slowly to look up at the spirit. The pharaoh held his gaze, his hand coming up to rest gently on Yuugi’s cheek. Slowly he leaned forward and whispered, “Thank you… aibou,” and met his partner in a soft kiss.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooo this started out as an “I wonder how Kaiba and Kazuya would interact with each other” short little one-shot fic… Now it is chapters. And most of those chapters do not include Kaiba, and even less have both Kaiba and Naru. It ended up being more about Yuugi and Mokuba than anything! Oh well, I still had fun :) Also, oops, ended up being a get-together fic… heh ^.^;
> 
> Also, in celebration of the long weekend happening here in America, I will be posting a new fic tomorrow night (if all goes as planned)! This one will be a DCMK (Detective Conan/Magic Kaitou) crossover with Sailor Moon. It’s a kaishin fic (shipping Shinichi and Kaito) and it’s a one-shot, so anyone interested in those things should definitely check it out :) 
> 
> Thank you so much to everyone who read this fic! I know there’s not a lot out there for Yu-Gi-Oh!/Ghost Hunt crossovers, so I’m really glad I was able to provide something like that for everyone interested ^.^ 
> 
> Happy reading, happy writing, and see you next time! :3
> 
> ~DS


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